Arrowhead is the advanced electro-optical fire control system that Apache helicopter pilots use for safe flight in day, night, or bad weather missions. It is the U.S. Army's Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) system that is leading edge in its design. M-TADS/PNVS advanced technology improves system performance by over 150 percent. Reliability increases more than 150 percent while maintenance actions decrease approximately 60 percent. Streamlining field maintenance from three to two levels saves nearly $1 billion in operation and support costs over the 20-year life of the system.
M-TADS/PNVS modular architecture accommodates a field-retrofit from TADS/PNVS to the new configuration on the Apache AH-64D. Almost 800 systems will have been delivered at the completion of the current Lot 5 contract, which extends production through December 2010.
A Performance Based Logistics (PBL) contract was initiated in 2007 for TADS/PNVS and M-TADS/PNVS systems. The PBL contract provides complete post-production supply chain management, including spares planning, procurement, repairs, maintenance, modifications and inventory management of fielded systems.
An update to the TADS/PNVS Day Sensor Assembly (M-DSA) is in development. M-DSA modernizes the entire DSA system to enhance performance and address obsolescence, as well as to increase the system’s ability to fully accommodate weapons now in production.
VNsight is a low-light-level TV integrated into the AH-64D Apache Modernized Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-PNVS) and Pathfinder dedicated pilotage sensor (the M-PNVS adapted for cargo and utility aircraft). The additional imaging capability in this wavelength complements the long wave infrared wavelength of the existing M-PNVS sensor and provides the Warfighter with significant tactical advantages. VNsight is currently in limited production.
