A long-awaited fleet of modern military helicopters are headed to the Missouri Air National Guard. The Guard got official word in the last few weeks of the helicopters worth hundreds of millions of dollars. State Aviation Officer for the Guard, Colonel Michael Ledbetter, says the Apache, Blackhawk, and Commanche aircraft are state-of-the-art machinery. He says the aircraft can be used in all weather conditions, night and day, with more speed and better range. Thirty or so of those helicopters will be replacing the Guard’s Viet Nam-era Huey helicopters later this year. Ledbetter expects the first of the attack aircraft this summer, even a couple of Apache helicopter loaners from Texas in the next two months.
