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A Russian Mil Mi-24 attack helicopter.
An attack helicopter is a military helicopter armed for attacking targets on the ground such as enemy infantry, armored vehicles and structures, using autocannon and machine-gun fire, rockets, and precision guided missiles such as the Hellfire. Many attack helicopters are also capable of carrying air to air missiles, though mostly for purposes of self-defense. Today's attack helicopter has two main roles: first, to provide direct and accurate close air support for ground troops, and the second, in the anti tank role to destroy enemy armored concentrations. Attack helicopters are also used to supplement lighter helicopters in the armed scout role.
[edit] History
[edit] Algerian War
After the Korean War, a few farsighted military establishments began to examine the helicopter as a possible platform for use in ground attack. The French Army was one of the first military forces to modify and use helicopters in combat in a ground attack role during the Algerian War of 1954-62. In 1955, French field commanders placed infantry machine gunners in the stretcher panniers of their Bell 47 (Sioux H-13) casualty evacuation helicopters. The ad hoc gunships were used to reach FLN guerrilla positions on otherwise inaccessible mountain ridges and peaks, but were far too underpowered.
In 1956, the French Air Force experimented with arming the Sikorsky Sikorsky S-55, then being superseded in service by the more capable Piasecki H-21 and Sikorsky CH-34 helicopters. The H-19 was originally fitted with two rocket launchers, and a 20-mm cannon, both mounted axially on the outside of the aircraft. Then, a 20-mm cannon, two 12.7-mm machine guns, and a 7.5-mm light machine gun were mounted to be fired from the cabin windows[1], but this load proved far too heavy, and even more lightly-armed H-19 gunships proved underpowered. Some Piasecki H-21 helicopters were armed with fixed, forward-firing rockets and machine guns and a few even had racks for bombs, but the H-21 lacked the maneuverability and performance needed for offensive action. Most H-21s in service were eventually fitted with a door-mounted 12.7- or 20-mm gun for self-defense only.
The Sikorsky H-34 was also modified into a gunship by the French Navy: standard armament comprised a MG 151 20-mm cannon firing from the cabin door, two 12.7-mm machine guns firing from the cabin windows to port, plus racks for 37 mm or 68 mm rockets. While the CH-34 was effective in the ground attack role, official evaluations at the time indicated that the CH-21 was more likely to survive multiple hits by ground fire than was the CH-34; this was assumed to be a consequence of the location and construction of the CH-34's fuel tanks. Nevertheless, by the close of the Algerian War, attack helicopters such as the CH-34 were being used in synchronized operations with troop-carrying CH-21 helicopters in large-scale counterinsurgency operations.
[edit] U.S. Army
The United States Army began to employ helicopters built by Bell, Hiller, Sikorsky and Piasecki. At first, helicopters were used mainly as airborne ambulances, cargo carriers, and observation platforms, or as a rescue craft for picking up pilots downed in the sea or from otherwise inaccessible terrain. However, the U.S. and the United Kingdom soon began modifying existing helicopters as anti-submarine weapons (ASW) platforms, carrying depth bombs and Magnetic Anomaly Detector gear. After learning of French Army experiments, there was a movement in the U.S. Army to arm helicopters. Under the leadership of Colonel Jay Vanderpool, the U.S. Army modified Sikorsky and other larger helicopters with fixed and flexible-mount machine guns, rockets, and cannon. While Col. Vanderpool was ridiculed for his efforts, some in the army saw his efforts as a great aid to ground troops. At the time the army leadership felt that the U.S. Air Force was not doing enough to support ground forces[2]. Due to the Key West Agreement, the Army could not field its own ground attack fixed-wing aircraft.
[edit] Vietnam and the Gunship
Helicopters played an integral part in the U.S military's land and air operations in Vietnam.
During the 1950s, with the increasing use of the helicopter for infantry transport, the U.S. saw a need for helicopters to be used as aerial artillery to provide fire suppression and ground support close to the battle. The first United States use of the attack helicopter in large-scale combat operations was during Vietnam. The U.S. Army took a UH-1 'Huey' and put machine guns and 2.75" Folding Fin Aerial Rockets (FFAR) on struts parallel with the fuselage. With its more powerful turbine engine, the UH-1C Huey gunship configuration worked well, and saw considerable combat service in Vietnam.
In the mid-1960s the U.S. Army concluded that a purpose-built gunship with more speed and firepower was required in the face of increasingly intense ground fire (often using heavy machine guns and anti-tank rockets) from Viet Cong and NVA troops. Based on this realization, and with the growing involvement in Vietnam, the U.S. Army developed the requirements for a dedicated attack helicopter, the Advanced Aerial Fire Support System (AAFSS). The aircraft would be able to hover-out-of-ground effect (OGE) at 6000 feet (PA) and 95 degrees, with a 220 knot speed dash capability and carry a much larger payload of weapons. The aircraft design selected for this program in 1965, was Lockheed's AH-56 Cheyenne.[3]
However, the U.S. Army split its efforts between the acquisition of a dedicated attack helicopter, and the continued use of improvised interim aircraft (such as the UH-1B/C). So, that same year, a group of high-level officers met to evaluate several prototype versions of armed aircraft to determine which provided the most significant increase in capability to the UH-1B. The three highest-ranking aircraft out of the evaluation (Sikorsky S-61, Kaman UH-2, and Bell Huey Cobra) were selected to compete in flight trials conducted by the Aviation Test Activity. As a result, Bell's Huey Cobra was recommended to be the interim armed helicopter until the Cheyenne was fielded. On 13 April 1966, the U.S. Army awarded Bell Helicopter Company a production contract for 110 AH-1G Cobras.[3] The Cobra had a slender fuselage to make the aircraft a smaller target, increased armor protection, and greater speed.
In 1967, the first AH-1Gs were deployed to Vietnam, around the same time that the Cheyenne successfully completed its first flight and initial flight evaluations. And while the Cheyenne program suffered setbacks over the next few years due to design issues (a result of discrepancies in requirement documents during the contract process), the Cobra was establishing itself as an effective aerial weapons platform, even despite its performance shortcomings when compared to the AH-56[3] and design issues of its own. By 1972, when the Cheyenne program was eventually cancelled to make way for the Advanced Attack Helicopter (AAH)[3], the interim "Snake" had built a solid reputation as an attack helicopter.
[edit] Soviet Army
During the 1960s, the Soviet Union, saw the same need for a ground attack helicopter. The Soviets equipped Mil Mi-8's in a similar configuration as the US Army's UH-1s. This attack helicopter was eventually developed into the famous Mi-24 Hind. These helicopters saw extensive action in Afganistan during the eighties. It was also exported in large numbers to many Asian and African countries. Other Russian attack helicopters developed in nineties are the Mi-28 Havoc and KA-50/52.
[edit] The Modern Attack Helicopter
An Apache Helicopter of the U.S Army
During the late 70's the U.S. Army saw the need of more sophistication within the attack helicopter corps, allowing them to operate in all weather conditions. With that the Advanced Attack Helicopter program was started. From this program the Hughes YAH-64 came out as the winner. The Russians, watching US aircraft development, saw the need of a more advanced helicopter also. Military officials asked Kamov and Mil to submit designs. The Ka-50 officially won the competition, but Mil decided to continue development of the Mi-28 that they had originally submitted.
The 1990's could be seen as the coming-of-age for the U.S. attack helicopter. The AH-64 Apache was used extensively during Operation Desert Storm with great success. Apaches fired the first shots of the war, destroying enemy early warning radar and SAM sites with their Hellfire missiles. They were later used successfully in both of their operational roles, to direct attack against enemy armor and as aerial artillery in support of ground troops. Hellfire missile and cannon attacks by Apache helicopters destroyed many enemy tanks and armored cars.
Today, the attack helicopter has been further refined, and the AH-64D Apache Longbow demonstrates many of the advanced technologies being considered for deployment on future gunships. The Russians are currently deploying the Ka-50, and Mi-28, though these attack aircraft are not linked into a command and control system at a level comparable to current U.S. equipment. Many students of ground attack helicopter warfare feel that this is a requirement of today's modern armies, since attack helicopters are being increasingly incorporated as part of a linked support element system by most of the armies of the world.
In the last 20 years USSOCOM has been developing the armed special forces gunship, using the MH-60. These helicopters are to be used as an attack element with Special Operators to do the clean up, or to deliver the operators and support them on the ground. They were used successfully (to the chagrin of CINC CENTCOM) during the Scud Hunt.
[edit] Models
Modern examples include:
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] Uncited References
- Duke, R.A., Helicopter Operations in Algeria [Trans. French], Dept. of the Army (1959)
- France, Operations Research Group, Report of the Operations Research Mission on H-21 Helicopter (1957)
- Leuliette, Pierre, St. Michael and the Dragon: Memoirs of a Paratrooper, New York:Houghton Mifflin (1964)
- Riley, David, French Helicopter Operations in Algeria Marine Corps Gazette, February 1958, pp. 21-26.
- Shrader, Charles R. The First Helicopter War: Logistics and Mobility in Algeria, 1954-1962 Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers (1999)
- Spenser, Jay P., Whirlybirds: A History of the U.S. Helicopter Pioneers, Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press (1998)
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