This should be some good news for aviators on Camp Humphreys:

The Army’s only Apache attack helicopter unit in South Korea will soon trade in its entire fleet for a new and more lethal model.

The 4th Battalion (Attack), 2nd Aviation Regiment at Camp Humphreys will make the swap a few aircraft at a time, starting in September.

The battalion’s 24 AH-64D Apache Longbows are the Block 1, Version 6 variant. They’ll be exchanged for the newest model — the Block 2, Version 11.

“It’s a one-for-one exchange,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Craig D. Yerdon, the battalion’s standardization instructor pilot. “By the end of the year, all of our aircraft will be traded in.”

Boeing produces the Apache, a two-seater attack helicopter, at a factory in Mesa, Ariz., Yerdon said.

The new Apaches will be airlifted from Fort Hood, Texas, to Osan Air Base aboard Air Force C-17 Globemaster transports, he said. A C-17 can carry three Apaches.

Six will be transported to Osan each month; once they’re unloaded, six older Apaches will be loaded and carried to the U.S.

The new helos will be reassembled, inspected and then flown to Humphreys.  [Stars & Stripes]

Read the rest of the article to see what upgrades the new Apaches will have.