Both aircraft were on routine flight operations, the Navy said, when they went down in the South China Sea only 30 minutes apart.

The AH-64 Apache has been the U.S. Army’s go-to attack helicopter since entering service in 1986 (first flight in 1975). Across its A/D/E variants, the Apache has earned a stellar reputation and long combat record.

American aerospace giant Boeing got two $461 million contracts to upgrade an extra nine CH-47F Block II Chinook helicopters.

Boeing is designing a tiltrotor drone wingman concept to support the Army’s helicopter fleet, similar to the Air Force’s push for collaborative combat aircraft, as the Army rushes to field unmanned drones.

President Donald Trump dramatically escalated a U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean on Friday by deploying the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier group to Latin America, a show of force that far exceeds any past counter-narcotics need and represents Washington’s most muscular move yet in the region.

Boeing said on Tuesday it had received orders for nine CH-47F Block II Chinook helicopters from the U. Army via two contract awards worth $461 million.

Adapting “loyal wingman” drones to helicopters is a fundamentally different challenge than adopting them to planes, as helicopters are far slower and operate at significantly lower altitudes.

Boeing has secured Army contracts for nine CH-47F Block II Chinooks, bringing the total number of helicopters under contract to 18.