Overview
- India’s Apache procurement occurred in two contracts: 22 for the Air Force signed in 2015 and delivered by 2020, and six for the Army signed in 2020 with the final three arriving in December 2025.
- Delays to the Army tranche were attributed to post-pandemic supply-chain shortages, lower DPAS priority, a temporary Boeing safety-testing pause, and a Turkey overflight denial that forced a transport to turn back.
- There is no Indian Ministry of Defence or U.S. Foreign Military Sales record of orders beyond the 28 Apaches already delivered.
- Reporters note Trump may have conflated Apache and Chinook purchases, though combined they total about 43 helicopters, not 68.
- Trump also linked the helicopter delays to U.S. tariff pressure over India’s Russian oil purchases and warned of possible increases, according to the reports.