The helicopters would be delivered by phases starting next year until 2017, Budiman said here on Thursday.
The Boeing-made helicopters will be piloted by army fliers, he said, adding the army will prepare a number of bases for the helicopters.
One of the bases would be located in Berau, the northern most district of East Kalimantan,he said.
Various other types of war planes including Agusta helicopters would be based in Berau.
Budiman said Indonesia will buy the latest variant of Apache helicopter, so far used only by the United States and Singapore.
The eight units complete with weapons will cost US$600 million including for the training of pilots and land crews .
Taiwan, India, Qatar, South Korea and Japan have also placed orders for AH-64E. New Delhi even forced Boeing , the manufacturer, to transfer the technology by producing part of the components in India.
The main weapon of Apache AH-64 is guided missile AGM-114 Hellfire, which is called tank-killer , a nickname it has won in various battle fields.
An Apache AH-64 helicopter carries 16 units of Hellfire guided missile placed in four launchers in its wings with a firing range of 12 kilometers.
In air defense the helicopter is equipped with AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-92 Stinger.
The helicopter could also carry anti radiation AGM-122 to destroy enemys radar installations.
Jakarta is seeking to modernize the countrys military equipment to strengthen its defense over its far-flung archipelago.
The country is set to buy a number of units of Russian Kilo Class submarines, which have guided missiles with a long firing range.
The type of Kilo Class submarine named Kiloklav could hit a target as far as 400 kilometers away from sub-surface to surface.
Earlier the Navy chief of staff Admiral Marsetio said a navy technical team would be sent to Russia to study a submarine offer from that country.
Indonesia will also acquire three units of submarine from South Korea to add to the two units the navy already has.
One of the two units is the 209 class type from Germany and the other one was from South Korea with almost the same type as the one from Germany .
"Indonesia still need more units of submarine to strengthen our navy and protect the countrys sovereignty from the sea," Marsetio said.
He said seas make up two third of the countrys territory, therefore, ideally the country would need at least 12 units of submarine.
"If Indonesia is to buy the Russian submarines, the country would be the first in Asia to have kilo class submarines," he said.
The Indonesian military (TNI) has also ordered a number of Leopard tanks which are considered among the best in the world .
From France and Britain ,Indonesia plans to import equipment for air defense system .
TNI chief Gen. Moeldoko said TNI also needed Sukhoi 35, the latest series of Russian Sukhoi jet fighter.
(T.SYS/A/H-ASG/F001) 24-01-2014 10:00:29
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
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