EVEN hunched on the tarmac, the lines of the Apache attack helicopter give it the look of something poised to strike.

On an airfield in North Yorkshire, the hands of a gunslinger, short stubby wings bristle with missiles which seem to be pointing directly at you, while the blank eye of the 30mm cannon beneath the belly of the aircraft fixes you with a Cyclops stare.

There is no doubt this is a ruthless, efficient killing machine - but that is exactly why the Ministry of Defence has invested £2.1bn in the most advanced machinery of its type.

The argument is, when the Apache is combined with the firepower of the Challenger II tank, the artillery's AS90 and the skill of the British infantryman, opposing forces will simply give up.

But it is not just firepower which makes the Army Air Corps version of the Apache so impressive.

Electronic gizmos allow the pilot and mission commander to see in the dark. Infrared, radar and computer technology combine to spot anything up to a thousand targets within a range of 10km, while the software on board will select the 250 most threatening ones and recommend the weapons to deal with them.

Once they are fired, laser targeting equipment means the Apache will rarely miss, while enemy forces reckless enough to take the helicopter on will also unwittingly put themselves at risk.

Apache can detect laser targeting equipment and put out "chaff" to confuse incoming missiles, while radar surveillance can be traced to source and then targeted by the on-board weapons system.

Asked to compare it with its predecessor, the Lynx, pilot Captain Paul Bayley had to stop to think. "It's like a switch from analogue to digital," he said after a pause.

"There's nothing the same. It's like comparing the Starship Enterprise with a B52."

The Army Air Corps' 9 Regiment, based at Dishforth, North Yorkshire, is the first to get Apache - to sighs of relief in Whitehall which faced criticism last year when the project was lagging behind.

"It's true that there was a problem with the simulator package and there was a delay in training as a result. But we're over that now, it's past history and we're back on track,'' said the regiment's commander, Lieutenant Col-onel David Short.

The simulator is a vital part of the package as up to 50 per cent of an Apache pilot's training will be done inside three high-tech centres at bases around the UK which can replicate conditions anywhere in the world.

They can even link with each other so air crew can "fly" multi-aircraft missions.

However, the silhouette of the real aircraft will soon be a familiar sight across the region as sorties are likely to take the helicopter over the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales, en route to ranges in the North- East and elsewhere in the UK.

The Apache force should be up to squadron strength by October, and battle group strength by next year. The cost is about £25m per aircraft, and upgrades worth another £15m are anticipated in future.

A total of 200 pilots and 67 aircraft are scheduled to join the Army's ranks by the end of 2006.