Taiwan's New Apache Helicopter Brigade

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Michael Peck, Why Taiwan's New Apache Helicopter Brigade Won't Stop China; The ultimate question is whether 29 helicopters will change the balance of power between China and Taiwan, or whether the Apaches are largely symbolic. National Interest, Aug 16, 2018 (blog).
https://nationalinterest.org/blo ... nt-stop-china-28887

Quote:

"With great fanfare, Taiwan has recently [July 17, 2018] activated a brigade of 29 US-made ]Boeing] AH-64E Apache attack helicopters. * * * in a $1.9 billion sale by the Obama administration in 2011 * * * the 30 helicopters (one crashed into a building during a 2014 training flight [but two pilots survived]) were delivered in 2013 and 2014, and the two Apache squadrons have since been training for their debut. * * * The Apaches will be supplemented by Taiwan's 61 AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopters [manufactured by Bell Helicopter, a division of Textron; Taiwan ordered 42 in 1992 and 21 in 1997]. Their counterparts across the Taiwan Straits are Communist China's Z-10 attack helicopter .

"Armed with a Longbow radar, 16 Hellfire anti-tank missiles or four Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, the Apache can deliver a horrific amount of firepower. * * * the AH-64 has an iconic reputation as a tank-killer * * * [Yet China's capability of] depositing large numbers of tanks on Taiwanese beaches in the face of Taiwanese -- and probably American -- air and naval power would be a daunting task. [So anti-tank is not the primary goal of Taiwan's AH-64E.] * * * Michael Thim, an expert on Taiwan's military [says,] 'Like all elements of Taiwan's defense forces, the AH-64Es are expected to contribute to anti-landing efforts * * * Taiwan's M60A3 TTS [Tank Thermal Sight: fitted with the AN/VSG-2 thermal sight (infrared for night vision), per en.wikipedia.org for 'M60 Patton'] tanks are also primarily aimed at anti-landing operations rather than tank versus tank combat, Thim adds.

My comment:
(a) I am ignorant. This is the first time I learn of Taiwan's rationale for purchasing AH-64Es.
(b) The AH-64 is Apache: its AH-64D variant is Longbow whereas its AH-64E variant, Guardian -- which uses upgraded Lowbow radar. In US, US Army uses AH-64D and -64E, while US Marine Corps, Bell AH-1W SuperCobra being replaced by Bell AH-1Z Viper (which is the latest).
(c) "AH-64 has an iconic reputation as a tank-killer." In a nutshell, the reputation is derived from AGM-114 Hellfire ("In service 1984-present": en.wikipedia.org; AGM stands for air-to-ground).
(d) Hellfire replacement is Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM), whose maker Lockheed Martin announced June 27, this year, that it was authorized to produce low-rate initial production of 2,631 missiles. Lockheed also produces Hellfire.
(e) About JAGM.
(i) The "joint" means the new missile will be used bot both services: US Army and Marine Corps -- though the missile is developed mainly by Army.
(ii) There is no RECENT video or Web page from manufacturer to show for either hellfire or JAGM. However,
(A) This is a concise pamphlet from Army:

Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM). Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E), Office of Secretary of Defense (OSD), undated (under the heading "FY17 Army Program").
http://www.dote.osd.mil/pub/reports/FY2017/pdf/army/2017jagm.pdf
("System [which is section heading]
• The JAGM combines the capabilities of the HELLFIRE II and Longbow HELLFIRE missiles into a single missile. The major contractor combined two sensor technologies – semi‑active laser (SAL) and millimeter wave (MMW) radar – into a single seeker and guidance system and mated it to the HELLFIRE Romeo warhead, motor, and flight control systems.
• The dual seeker, in addition to providing independent SAL and MMW targeting, offers two combined modes using both the laser and MMW seekers to maintain desired performance in degraded environments and against threat countermeasures.")

Chapter 15 Guidance and Control. In Fundamentals of of Naval Weapons Systems (that is what "fun" stands for in the URL). Federation of American Scientists (FAS), undated
https://fas.org/man/dod-101/navy/docs/fun/part15.htm
("Homing guidance methods may be divided into three types: active, semiactive, and passive homing * * * In active homing, the weapon contains both the transmitter [which the above and receiver. * * * In semiactive homing, the target is illuminated by a tracking radar [from the platform that launches the missile or a separate radar on the ground] at the launching site or other control point. The missile is equipped with a radar receiver (no transmitter) and by means of the reflected radar energy from the target * * * Passive homing depends only on the target as a source of tracking energy. This energy can be the noise radiated by a ship or submarine in the case of a passive homing torpedo, RF [acronym for 'radio frequency'] radiation from the target's own sensors in the case of an anti-radiation (ARM) weapon, heat sources such as ship, aircraft, or vehicle exhausts, contrast with the temperature or visible light environment, or even the radiation all objects emit in the microwave region")

"SALH [semi-active laser homing] is similar to SARH [semi-active radar homing] but uses a laser as a signal."  en.wikipedi.org for "missile guidance."

semi-active radar homing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-active_radar_homing
(section 1 Concept: "The weight of a transmitter reduces the range of any flying object, so passive systems have greater reach. In addition, the resolution of a radar is strongly related to the physical size of the antenna, and in the small nose cone of a missile there isn't enough room to provide the sort of accuracy needed for guidance. Instead the larger radar dish on the ground or launch aircraft will provide the needed signal and tracking")
(B) A longer, but easy-to-read article:

Kyle Mizokami, Hellfire Tank Killer Replacement Enters Production. Popular Mechanics, June 27, 2018.
https://www.popularmechanics.com ... -enters-production/