US approves $3.5 billion sale of Apache helicopters to South Korea

The U.S. State Department on Monday approved the sale of up to 36 AH-64E Apache helicopters, logistics and support to South Korea in a deal worth $3.5 billion.

South Korea would also buy up to 76 GE T700 engines, two installed in each helicopter, plus four more spares. And each helicopter would get its own AN/ASQ-170 Modernized Target Acquisition and Designation Sight, according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

Along with the helicopters, South Korea also wants to buy hundreds of missiles to arm them — including 456 Hellfire Missiles, 6 Captive Air Training Missiles and 152 Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles.

The primary vendors for the proposed sale to South Korea are Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

South Korea previously purchased 36 AH-64E Apaches in 2013, an order that was completed in early 2017.

The proposed sale, which still needs final approval from Congress, continues a bumper year for American foreign military sales, or FMS . The total each year has increased since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which officials across the U.S. government described as a kick start for other countries to increase defense spending.

Last week, the State Department approved almost $19 billion in potential F-15 fighter jet sales to Israel. The sale of helicopters on Monday would bring America’s total FMS ledger above $100 billion this fiscal year — around twice the total two years ago.

To keep pace with demand, the different parts of America’s government that oversee such sales have tried to reform the process to make it faster. Officials in Congress, State and the Pentagon see that effort as a long-term project and are trying to implement recommendations released last year.

Alongside the sale of helicopters themselves, the State Department also approved the Netherlands’ purchase of $305 million worth of training and equipment for the CH-47 Chinook and AH-64 Apache.

This week the U.S. and South Korean militaries began a series of military drills known as Ulchi Freedom Shield . The exercises are meant to help both countries prepare for a potential attack by North Korea, which has continued to develop its nuclear weapons program and threaten its southern neighbor.