Apache military helicopter

The news that Prince Harry has qualified as an Apache attack helicopter pilot in America and is going back to Afghanistan to use one to deal with the raghead terrorists should boost his public standing.  The AH-64 Apache is the US Army's principal attack helicopter, and is the successor to the AH-1 Cobra. The AH-64 is powered by two General Electric T700 turboshaft engines.

A piece about it from guardian.co.uk :-

The army regards the Apache helicopter as the attack aircraft of choice in Afghanistan. It is not the fastest helicopter, but those who have flown it say it has plenty of power and is very robust.
It also has an array of hi-tech systems: weapons, sights, sensors, radar and communications – a lot of the information from which appears in the right eye of the helmet display unit (HDU) worn by pilots and the symbols stay in their field of vision whichever way they turn.
The pilots sit one behind the other. You can fly the aircraft from both seats, but on operations in Afghanistan, the mission commander tends to sit in the front seat to operate the sights, sensors and weapon systems, with the second pilot flying from the back seat, which has slightly better visibility. There are about 150 switches to control the rotor blades and some of the weapons and sights.
Some of them won't be used during routine flights in the UK, but during combat operations the army believes it is essential to make pilots "seat specific" otherwise they get information overload.
The Apache training takes 16 months, split between two eight-month courses.
The focus of the first, the conversion to type (CTT), is learning how to fly the aircraft. The focus of the second eight months, insiders say, is "learning how to fight it".
The first course covers ground school, simulator training, and day and night flying. The simulator is used to "load up" the crew with more and more demanding situations. The trainees are assessed all the time and weeded out if they are not up to the mark.
Pilots say night flying is one of the most challenging skills on the Apache. Unlike most military aircraft where pilots fly on NVG (which amplifies ambient light) the Apache flies on a FLIR (forward looking infra red) which works on temperature difference.
So along with all the other symbols in the right eye, pilots will have this FLIR image beamed in as well.
Pilots say this is the most difficult challenge of the first eight months. Once they have mastered it, the NVG image is then overlaid on top of the FLIR image.
During the second eight months, the pilots train in pairs, and are sent on an eight week exercise in the US, called Crimson Eagle. It includes a live firing phase where trainees use "all of the aircraft weapons systems within realistic tactical scenarios in an environment that is similar to Afghanistan".
The Apache has three main weapons systems: a 30m cannon; rockets; and Hellfire laser-guided missiles, which are known to be extremely accurate.
The army has 67 Apaches, and 55 crews of two pilots. Even experienced pilots can struggle to learn to fly the Apache because there are so many systems – weapons and otherwise – to master.
Those who qualify have come to appreciate the sophistication of its "redundancy", or backup, systems.
It has two of everything – hydraulics, flying controls, generators, engines etc.
If something gets knocked out, there is a backup in place. One army source said: "It is designed to perform its mission and get you back home."