Attack helicopter

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A Boeing AH-64 Apache of the British Army in Afghanistan in the firing of unguided rockets (2008)

Combat helicopters are military helicopters that specialize in fighting soft and hard ground targets . The typical armament of a combat helicopter includes a machine cannon , machine guns, and guided and unguided air-to-surface missiles . Many combat helicopters are also able to carry air-to-air missiles for self-defense. The two primary tasks of attack helicopters are close air support and anti-tank defense . They also support and complement lighter helicopters in military reconnaissance . Due to their predominantly ground-based tasks, combat helicopters are mostly assigned to the army and not to the air force .

OSCE definitions

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) defines the term "attack helicopter" in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty) of November 1990 in Article II as follows:

  • "Combat helicopter" means a rotary wing aircraft that is armed and equipped to combat targets or equipped to perform other military tasks. The term “attack helicopter” includes attack helicopters and combat support helicopters. Unarmed transport helicopters are excluded from this term .
    • The term “attack helicopter” refers to a combat helicopter that is equipped for the use of armor-piercing guided missiles, air-to-ground missiles or air-to-air missiles, as well as with an integrated fire control and aiming system for these weapons. The term "attack helicopter" includes special attack helicopters and multi-purpose attack helicopters.
      • The term "special attack helicopter" refers to an attack helicopter that is primarily designed like an anti-tank helicopter for the use of guided weapons.
      • The term “multipurpose attack helicopter” refers to an attack helicopter that is designed to perform several military tasks and is equipped for the use of guided missiles.
    • The term “combat support helicopter” means an attack helicopter that does not meet the criteria for an attack helicopter, but which is equipped with a range of self-defense and cluster weapons, such as B. on-board machine guns, on-board cannons and unguided rockets, bombs or cluster bombs , or can be equipped for the performance of other military tasks.

construction

The structure itself hardly differs in the individual models, similar to battle tanks , but there are clear differences to other helicopter designs . In contrast to the usual cockpit layout with pilots and co-pilots sitting next to each other, the tandem arrangement is preferred for attack helicopters, with the pilot usually sitting behind the shooter. The only exceptions to the tandem arrangement are the Kamow Ka-52 and the Bölkow Bo 105 . The latter retained the conventional seating arrangement due to its non-military origin, even in the version as an anti-tank helicopter.

Due to the tandem design, attack helicopters have a smaller frontal cross-section when approaching the enemy and represent a smaller target. The armament usually consists of a swiveling machine gun or machine cannon attached to the underside of the bow and rockets for the respective purpose - mostly air-to-ground missiles - which are carried in brackets on the side of the helicopter.

history

Prototype of the AH-56 Cheyenne

In the mid-1960s, the United States Army realized that a specially designed, higher airspeed and firepower helicopter was required to counter the growing threat of ground-based anti-aircraft defense with heavy machine guns and reactive anti- tank rifles from the Viet Cong and Vietnamese People's Army . On this basis and against the background of the increasing US military engagement in Southeast Asia, the United States Army developed the requirements for a suitable attack helicopter, the Advanced Aerial Fire Support System (AAFSS) . In 1965, the Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne won the tender .

Vietnam War

Prototype of the AH-1, the world's first attack helicopter

When the United States Army began acquiring an explicit attack helicopter, it also considered the possibility of temporarily using existing helicopters (such as the Bell UH-1 B / C transport helicopter ) by increasing their combat value. In 1965, a panel of high-ranking officers was selected and commissioned to examine various prototypes of armed transport and combat helicopters to determine whether they had the greatest combat added value compared to the UH-1B. The top three helicopters were the Sikorsky S-61 , the Kaman H-2 Tomahawk and the Bell AH-1 Huey Cobra , which were selected to be tested against each other in flight tests. After completion of the flight tests, the Army Aviation Test Activity recommended that the Huey Cobra be used temporarily as an armed attack helicopter until the Lockheed AH-56 was commissioned. On April 13, 1966, the United States Army signed a purchase agreement for the 110 Bell AH-1G Cobra. In contrast to the UH-1, the Cobra has a tandem cockpit that reduces the silhouette during frontal attacks, reinforced armor and a higher flight speed.

In 1967, around the time the Cheyenne was successfully completing its maiden flight and flight tests, the first AH-1G were stationed in Vietnam. While the Cheyenne's development program suffered repeated setbacks over the years, the Cobras established themselves as an effective airborne weapon platform, despite their deficiencies compared to the AH-56. In 1972 the Cheyenne was finally discontinued in favor of the revised Advanced Attack Helicopter development program.

After the Vietnam War , missile-armed attack helicopters were developed primarily for fighting tanks. With the ability to move quickly on the battlefield and attack quickly, helicopters posed a critical threat even to well-organized air defense. Both NATO and Warsaw Pact armed forces were increasingly optimizing attack helicopters for anti-tank use. The United States Marine Corps (USMC) and the United States Air Force (USAF) continued to see the role of providing close air support to ground forces, even though the Marines chose that role for the AH-1 Cobra and Super Cobra. In contrast to the western attack helicopters with only two crew members, the Soviet ones retained their ability to transport troops.

While combat aircraft were effective tank fighters in the conflicts of the Middle East, attack helicopters are seen more in a multipurpose role. Tactics such as tank plinking , used in the Iraq war , have shown that combat aircraft can also be used effectively to combat tanks, but helicopters remain unique in their ability to provide close air support at low speeds and low altitudes. Other rotary wing aircraft such as the Hughes MH-6 light multipurpose helicopter have been specially developed for the transport and support of airborne special forces .

Modern attack helicopter

Mil Mi-24 "SuperHind", 2006

During the late 1970s, the United States Army recognized the need for all-weather attack helicopters and launched the Advanced Attack Helicopter program . The heavily armed attack helicopter Hughes YAH-64 Apache emerged from this program as the winner and successor to the Bell AH-1 Cobra. The Soviet armed forces also saw the need for an advanced helicopter. Several Mil Mi-24 attack helicopters were used during the Soviet-Afghan War in the 1980s . The military asked the Kamow and Mil design bureaus to submit appropriate designs. Officially, the Kamow Ka-50 won , but Mil decided to continue development on his Mil Mi-28 .

Combat helicopters were able to demonstrate their effectiveness for the first time in the 1990s. AH-64 Apache were used extensively and with great success during Operation Desert Storm . Apache destroyed with their laser-guided air-to-ground missiles of the type AGM-114 Hellfire enemy radar systems and launchers for ground to air missiles . In the later course of the war they were successfully used in their two priority operational roles, direct attack by enemy formations and close air support to their own ground troops.

See also

literature

  • Combat helicopter. Technology, armament, types. Edition Dörfler im Nebel-Verlag, Utting 2002, ISBN 3-89555-061-2 .
  • RA Duke (translator): Helicopter Operations in Algeria (= DA Intelligence Report. R-627-59). United States. Department of the Army; France. Armée, Washington DC 1959 (Translated from the French, The original was published by: French Army, Deuxieme Bureau).
  • Operations Research Group: Report of the Operations Research Mission on H-21 Helicopter. sn, sl 1957.
  • Pierre Leulliette: St. Michael and the Dragon. Memoirs of a Paratrooper. Houghton Mifflin, Boston 1964.
  • David Riley: French Helicopter Operations in Algeria. In: Marine Corps Gazette. Vol. 42, No. 2, February 1958, ISSN  0025-3170 , pp. 21-26.
  • Charles R. Shrader: The First Helicopter War. Logistics and Mobility in Algeria, 1954–1962. Praeger Publishers, Westport CT et al. 1999, ISBN 0-275-96388-8 .
  • Jay P. Spenser: Whirlybirds. A History of the US Helicopter Pioneers. University of Washington Press in Association with Museum of Flight, Seattle WA et al. 1998, ISBN 0-295-97699-3 .
  • M. Normann: Combat helicopters worldwide , Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2018, ISBN 978-3-613-04044-1

Web links

Commons : Combat Helicopters  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Combat helicopter  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe . In: osce.org