Apache at War: Inside the cockpit of the world's deadliest combat helicopter

The AH-64 Apache attack helicopter is a US-designed close-support aircraft in service in the UK with the Army Air Corps (AAC). Apache at War is a senior British pilot's vivid and uncompromising account of flying this and other combat helicopters in action, from patrolling Bandit Country in Co. Armagh, Northern Ireland, to taking out Taliban fighters in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, with active service in the Balkans and Iraq along the way. Steve Jones was also a qualified instructor on the Apache and helped to teach the then Lieutenant H. Wales - Prince Harry - to fly and fight the aircraft. He tells of mentoring the hard-living prince, equipping him with skills that would later bring out the best in him in Afghanistan, offering insights into Harry the soldier and pilot far removed from the media figure of today.

Format: Hardback
Length: 400 pages
Publication date: 09 May 2024
Publisher: John Blake Publishing Ltd

Rounds slammed the ground all around the Taliban, hitting the earth face first and vanishing into the foggy confusion of desert conflict. The Apache's engines rumbled on as we orbited, hoping to see immediate, harsh, hard proof that he was no longer a threat. Billed as the ultimate fighting machine, the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter is a US-designed close-support aircraft in service in the UK with the Army Air Corps (AAC). Apache at War is a senior British pilot's vivid and uncompromising account of flying this and other combat helicopters in action. Tautly, often graphically written, here is a memoir of the author's service flying close-support helicopters with the AAC, from patrolling Bandit Country in Co. Armagh, Northern Ireland, in the late 1990s, to taking out Taliban fighters in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in the mid to late 2000s, with active service in the Balkans and Iraq along the way. Besides combat flying, Steve Jones was also a qualified instructor on the Apache, and helped to teach the then Lieutenant H. Wales - Prince Harry - to fly and fight the aircraft. He tells of mentoring the hard-living prince, equipping him with skills that would later bring out the best in him in Afghanistan, offering insights into Harry the soldier and pilot far removed from the media figure of today. The first-person narrative is immediate, often dramatic, and peppered with military insights that give it great authenticity. Laced with laconic humour, it is a testament to the vital work of combat helicopters, as well as an intimate salute to a truly remarkable aircraft.

Weight: 656g
Dimension: 241 x 163 x 34 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781789467208