So far I have not heard any report concerning 70 Apaches in one
single operation, the most famous was the one where 32 Apaches were
ambushed IIRC, encountering small arms, RPGs and perhaps ZSU
AAA.
All 32 except one were shot up, of the 31 , one went down and the
rest managed to get back to base.
A few were seriously damaged and scrapped but majority were
repaired and return to svc.
Well this case show how good the protection of the Apache ; here
another example:
In 2001, AH-64As went to war in Afghanistan with the 101st
Aviation Regiment. They escorted Chinooks and Black Hawks and
supported U.S. troops in contact with the enemy, operating from
Baghram air base and forward arming and refueling points around the
tortured country.
Seven AH-64As provided life-saving firepower for Americans in the
fierce firefight around the Shah-e-Kot valley during Operation
Anaconda last year. Four of the helicopters received heavy battle
damage, including hits from rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). The
damaged aircraft still completed their missions and brought their
crews home, and most were repaired quickly to return to the
fight.
http://www.defensedaily.com/cgi/rw/show_mag.cgi?pub=rw&mon=0104&file=0104apache.htm
But the survivbility of the Apaches is not the reason that AH is
selling like hot cakes now, but the lethality of the Apaches, it is
estimated that Apaches were responsible for the destruction of
estimated 800 vehicles which 500 were AFVs in Iraq.
With such a record, there were great demand of AHs after GW1, that
is why the increase of sales of more Apaches, Tiger etc after
that.
And that is why RSAF bought 20 Apaches.
