After years of suffering derision for being over budget and late into service, the Apache attack helicopter has become a vital asset on the Afghan battlefield as a life-saver for paratroopers on the ground.

For the first time the sleek gunships have been tested in a hostile environment and have performed beyond expectation, said the Army Air Corps pilots who fly it.

With an ability to pick out and shoot an insurgent up to two miles away, eight of the £38 million helicopters have been sent to Helmand in southern Afghanistan as part of the 3,300-strong British force that is attempting to bring law and order to a province overrun with Taliban and drug warlords.

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