Using helicopters UH-1 "Iroquois" in Southeast Asia, the Americans came to the conclusion that with all their many advantages, this machine is of little use for use as a fire support helicopter. The Iroquois proved to be too vulnerable to small arms fire, and especially the large-caliber machine guns that form the backbone of the Viet Cong air defense system. The situation was aggravated by the fact that the crews, fighting to increase the carrying capacity of their turntables, dismantled everything from them that could be dispensed with in flight, including the already weak armor protection.
A specialized, much more protected and armed, high-speed and maneuverable attack helicopter was required. In March 1965, development began in the United States to create a multifunctional helicopter, which could fully perform many of the combat missions assigned to it.
The winner of the competition was the AH-1 Huey Cobra, created on the basis of components and assemblies of the same proven UH-1. The first flight of the AN-1G "Hugh Cobra" took place in September 1965. This machine had some advantages: better aerodynamic shape, a third higher speed, more powerful armament, less vulnerability.
Hugh Cobra was created in relation to operations in Southeast Asia. The armed forces of the states of this region had a rather small amount of armored vehicles, so the creators of the helicopter did not become too smart with suspended weapons, and time was running out: the new machine was eagerly awaited in Vietnam. On an experimental helicopter, there were only two suspension assemblies on the wing, and four on production vehicles. Suspended armament included two types of NAR blocks, XM-18 containers with 7, 62-mm machine guns and automatic 40-mm XM-13 grenade launchers, cartridges with XM-3 mines, E39P1 aviation smoke devices and fuel tanks with a capacity of 264 liters. For use in Vietnam, three typical variants of the combat load on the external sling were proposed. Light - 2 NAR XM-157 blocks with 7 70 mm missiles each on the outer hardpoints and 2 XM-18 containers with one 7.62 mm machine gun on the inner ones. Medium - 4 NAR XM-159 blocks with 19 70mm missiles in each. Heavy - 2 NAR XM-159 blocks on the outer hardpoints and 2 XM-18 containers with one 7.62 mm machine gun on the inner ones.
The shooter from the front seat controlled the fire of the movable weapons placed on the turret, and the pilot used weapons suspended from the wing pylons. The weapon control system made it possible to set the number of simultaneously fired pairs of missiles from the left and right blocks in a salvo and the interval between salvoes. NARs were issued only symmetrically from blocks suspended under the left and right wings, since the asymmetric missile launch led to the appearance of a disturbing moment and made it difficult to control the helicopter. If necessary, the pilot could control the fire of the weapons mounted on the turret, which in this case was rigidly fixed relative to the longitudinal axis of the helicopter, and the shooter could fire the NARs.
True recognition came to the Cobras during the 1968 New Year offensive by Viet Cong units on American air bases.
For helicopters, small areas were enough for takeoff. "Cobras" made several sorties per day, going into the attack over the heads of the defenders Ji-Ai. It was then that the term "air artillery" was born, in Vietnam in relation to AH-1G helicopters it was used much more often than the traditional air cavalry. Airmobile units were assigned helicopter companies consisting of two plutongs of eight UH-1D helicopters and one (also eight helicopters) AH-1G.
Combat formation "Cobras", like fighter aircraft, was built on the basis of a pair: leader - slave. The pair provided a good connection and did not constrain the maneuver. In Vietnam, helicopters spent most of their flight time over terrain uncontrolled by the US Army or their South Vietnamese allies. The use of helicopters by a couple increased the crew's chances of surviving an emergency landing on foreign territory. The second helicopter in this case covered the downed comrade with fire until the arrival of the search and rescue helicopter.
In the early stages of the war, helicopter gunships were tasked with destroying infantry and light vehicles such as sampans and bicycles. To defeat such targets, the firepower of the Cobras was quite enough. The situation changed when a stream of Soviet-made heavy equipment poured into South Vietnam along the Ho Chi Minh trail. Immediately, the insufficient effectiveness of the NAR to defeat the PT-76, T-34 and T-54 tanks was revealed.
Closely "Hugh Cobras" collided with tanks in Laos in 1971. The 2nd Squadron of the 17th Air Cavalry Regiment destroyed five tanks, four PT-76s and one T-34 with NARs with a heavy warhead. Attempts to destroy tanks with fire from 20-mm cannons from suspended containers were unsuccessful. Tanks were difficult to hit with more than missiles. Excellent camouflage and camouflage paint made them very difficult to detect. The first tank attacks were unsuccessful. The pilots suggested attacking them with at least two helicopters: one comes in from the front, diverting the attention of the tankers, and the second strikes from the flank or from the rear. In practice, the pilots, having discovered a tank, in the excitement immediately rushed into the attack, not bothering themselves with distracting maneuvers. Perhaps more tanks were destroyed. So, in one of the sorties, two columns of tanks were found. As a result of the ensuing blow, the convoy was stopped, but not one tank caught fire. It was not possible to establish from the air that the tank was out of action. ATGM "Toy" became a radical tool for fighting tanks. The first vehicles equipped with guided missiles were the UH-1D. The successful use of these helicopters in the fight against armored targets in Vietnam has stepped up work on integrating the ATGM into the Hugh Cobra weapon system. In an experimental order, two AH-1s were equipped with UR-mi, from May 1972 to January 1973 they were tested in combat conditions. The 81st ATGM destroyed 27 tanks (including T-54, PT-76 and captured M-41), 13 trucks and several fortified firing points.
Destroyed PT-76
At the same time, the helicopters did not receive a single hit. The missiles were usually launched from a distance of 2200 m, instead of 1000 m when the NAR was launched. In 1972, the Americans presented a surprise by using helicopter ATGMs against tanks, but the Vietnamese also surprised the Yankees. In the same year, they used the Soviet Strela-2M MANPADS to combat low-flying targets.
MANPADS Strela-2M
Bell's designers, when designing the Hugh Cobra, provided for countermeasures against heat-guided missiles by cooling the exhaust gases, but this was not enough. "Arrows" confidently captured helicopters, and the first shot down was "Hugh", then - two "Cobras".
In the first case, the AN-1G flew alone at an altitude of about 1000 m. After being hit by the Arrow, the car collapsed in the air. In another case, the rocket hit the tail boom. Despite significant damage, the pilot sank to the tops of the trees, but the car hit the crown and overturned. The Americans assessed the threat. All Bell helicopters flying in Vietnam were fitted with a bent pipe that diverted hot gases upward into the plane of rotation of the main rotor, where a powerful turbulent flow instantly mixed them with the surrounding air. As practice has shown, the Strela's seeker's sensitivity was not enough to capture the helicopters modified in this way. During the war years in Southeast Asia, "Cobras" have demonstrated good survivability. Of the 88 Cobras that took part in the operation in Laos, 13 were shot down. By the end of the Vietnam War, the US Army had 729 AN-1G helicopters out of 1133 built. The lion's share of the missing 404 cars forever remained in Vietnam.
In May 1966, Bell began development of the AN-1J "Sea Cobra" twin-engine helicopter, an improved version of the AN-1, for the US Marine Corps, which originally ordered 49 helicopters. The use of a power plant of two gas turbine engines of greater power in combination with a new rotor with an increased diameter (up to 14.63 m) and a chord of blades provided improved flight characteristics and increased operational safety from aircraft carriers, as well as an increase in the combat load to 900 kg, which made it possible to use the XM turret. -1-87 with a 20mm triple-barreled cannon and various weapon options suspended under the wing.
The first production helicopter AN-1J with twin Pratt & Whitney PT6T-3 "Twin Pac" gas turbine engines with a takeoff power of 1340 kW, made its first flight on October 14, 1970, and already in February 1971, the AN-1J combat helicopters began to be used in Vietnam in corps combat operations Marine Corps, which was supplied with 63 helicopters. The first 140 helicopters were the same as for the US Marine Corps, the next 69 were armed with ATGM "Tou".
The next modifications were the AN-1T "Sea Cobra" - an improved version for the US Marine Corps with ATGM "Tow" and a control system with greater guidance accuracy. The first flight took place in May 1976, deliveries of the first ordered 57 helicopters began in October 1977. AN-1W "Super Cobra" - development of the AN-1T helicopter with two General Electric GTEs. T700-GE-401 with a takeoff power of 1212 kW each; made its first flight on November 16, 1983.
The first serial AN-1W helicopter was delivered in March 1986 for the Marine Corps, which originally ordered 44 helicopters, an additional 30 helicopters were ordered. In addition, 42 AN-1T helicopters were upgraded to AN-1W.
Combat helicopters AN-1 of various modifications were supplied to the armed forces: Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Iran, Spain, Qatar, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey, South Korea and Japan.
Combat helicopters of this type were used in the following armed conflicts:
Vietnam War (1965-1973, USA)
Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988, Iran)
Operation Peace for Galilee (1982, Israel)
US invasion of Grenada (1983, US)
Turkish-Kurdish conflict (since 1984, Turkey)
Operation "Praying Mantis" in Panama (1988, USA)
Gulf War (1991, US)
Peacekeeping operation in Somalia (UNOSOM I, 1992-1993, USA)
War in Afghanistan (since 2001, USA)
Iraqi War (since 2003, USA)
War in Waziristan (since 2004, Pakistan)
Second Lebanese War (2006, Israel)
In some conflicts, helicopters of this type suffered significant losses. Iran has lost more than half of what it had in the war with Iraq.
Iranian AN-1J
Israel was forced to use Cobras in the Bek Valley, with great caution, faced with a powerful Soviet-made Syrian air defense.
The expectation of unpunished, low-altitude attacks with the help of the Tou ATGM was not justified.
The combat helicopter was detected by the radar of the Krug (SA-4) and Kvadrat (SA-6) anti-aircraft missile systems at a distance of 30 km if it flew above 15 m above the ground, and the ZSU-23-4 Shilka radar in In this case, it was detected at a distance of 18 km. The standard 96-sleep-row burst of four Shilka barrels hit the Cobra with a 100% probability at a range of 1000 m, and at a range of 3000 m the probability of hitting was already 15%.
Again the American Cobras entered the battle in the winter of 1990-1991. Combat helicopters of the 1st Cavalry and 1st Armored Divisions were airlifted from Europe and the United States to Saudi Arabia, where they took an active part in Operation Desert Storm. On the first day of the offensive, the Cobras, together with the Kiows, conducted reconnaissance in the interests of the tankers of the 1st Armored Division and covered the combat vehicles from the air. On that day, "Cobras" were loaded with fuel and ammunition to the eyeballs. Four ATGM "Toy" were suspended under the wings. One day was enough to make sure that these missiles did not meet the requirements of modern warfare. Iraqi air defense was not completely suppressed, at the front line there were a significant number of self-propelled air defense systems with autonomous radar guidance and ZSU-23-4.
The flat surface of the desert made it possible to detect helicopters from afar, which, moreover, when the Toy was launched, had extremely limited maneuvering capabilities. A missile launched at maximum range flies for 21 seconds, and the reaction time of "Shilka" after detecting a target is 6-7 seconds. Therefore, the very next day, instead of four ATGMs, two NAR units with 14 Hydra 70 missiles with cluster warheads and two Toy were suspended from helicopters.
The laser rangefinder of the ATGM sighting system made it possible to carry out accurate guidance when launching the NAR. After the launch, the pilots were able to withdraw from the attack with a sharp maneuver, without thinking about aiming the missile at the target. The main drawback of both the Cobras and Kiows was the lack of night vision systems, similar to the TADS / PNVS system installed on the Apaches. The situation was aggravated by the fact that the smoke from the fires of the oil fields and the smallest sand dust severely limited visibility in the daytime. All crews had night vision goggles, but only used them for en-route flights.
Marine Corps Cobra crews were equipped with better goggles and had fewer problems attacking ground targets in poor visibility conditions. To some extent, the situation improved with the installation of laser systems on the non-rotating part of the 20-mm cannon, which projected the aiming point of the gun onto the terrain and reproduced it on night vision goggles. The range of the system was 3-4 km. By the beginning of the war, only the Cobras of the 1st Armored Division had time to equip these systems. Sandstorms not only worsened visibility, the sand was washing away the blades of the engine compressors.
For operation in desert conditions, it was planned to install special filters on the engine air intakes, but by the beginning of the war they did not have time to do this. On average, the engines were changed after 35 hours of operation. On all army "Cobras" during the hostilities, the engines were changed at least once. In total, in Operation Desert Storm, Army Cobras flew 8000 hours and fired more than 1000 Toy ATGMs. A more terrible enemy, as in the Gulf (the filters were never installed), turned out to be fine red sand, which eaten away the blades of the engine compressors and the rotor blades. Thanks to the efforts of the flight crew, the combat readiness of the Cobras was maintained at 80%. In addition to escorting convoys, helicopters were often involved in reconnaissance.
After that, there were still combat missions to Somalia and the "War of 2003", which is still continuing. In the coming decade, these helicopters will be 50 years old. Having made its first flight in 1967, the AH-1 fire support helicopter remains in service.
Satellite image of Google Earth: Soviet-made Mi-24 (five-bladed) and AN-1 "Cobra" (two-bladed) combat helicopters at the Fort Blis airfield, there is a noticeable difference in the geometric dimensions of both machines.
The US ground forces have already abandoned it in favor of the more "advanced" AH-64 Apache, but the American Marines, who have fallen in love with this machine, are putting into service a new modification of it - ("Viper"), which also received the nickname Zulu Cobra (for the letter denoting modification).
AH-1Z
Development of the Vipers, then nicknamed the King Cobra, began in 1996 when the Marine Corps adopted a helicopter fleet modernization program. It provided for the replacement of 180 AH-1W Super Cobra rotorcraft with AH-1Z (purchase of new machines or alteration of existing ones), and about a hundred multipurpose UH-1N helicopters - for UH-1Y Venom. The Viper made its first flight in December 2000, and then over the course of ten years it was gradually brought to mind, until, finally, in December 2010, the Marine leadership decided to finally accept the helicopter into service.
The mass of the rotorcraft has increased significantly (8390 kilograms of maximum take-off weight against 6690 kilograms of the "Supercobra"). In many respects, this is why the main design difference of the Vipers is the new four-bladed composite main rotor, which replaced the traditional two-bladed predecessor for the Hugh family of machines, which has exhausted its capabilities to support the increasingly heavy Cobras in the air. The tail rotor also became four-bladed. The avionics has been completely transferred to the modern element base: the Supercobr analog flight instruments have given way to an integrated control complex with two multifunctional liquid crystal displays in each cockpit.
From the point of view of tactical capabilities, "Vipers" differ from "Supercobras" by almost three times increased combat radius (200 kilometers versus 100) and increased speed. The composition of the actual onboard weapons has practically not changed: the same "Hellfires", "Hydras", "Sidearms" and "Sidewinders". However, the new sighting system allows you to track targets at distances exceeding the range of use of onboard weapons. At the same time, the use of guided missiles was radically simplified - the Supercobr pilots constantly complained about the need to switch many toggle switches in the desired sequence to launch the Hellfires.
In addition, the helicopter was equipped with an infrared FLIR front hemisphere viewing system, similar to the one equipped with the AH-64 Apache. At one time, one of the main complaints about the "Supercobras" was the lack of such equipment.
The Thales corporation Top Owl helmet-mounted target designation system has also been added, which allows you to perform combat missions in difficult weather conditions, as well as at night.
At the moment, the Marine Corps has already received 15 of these helicopters. In total, by 2021, the command of the Marine Corps plans to have 189 "Vipers": 58 new rotary-wing aircraft plus 131 converted and re-equipped AH-1W Super Cobra aircraft from the number of the KMP aviation.
The cost of the entire program of modernization of almost three hundred "Supercobras" and "Hugh", as well as purchases of new helicopters by the Marines and the US Navy will exceed $ 12 billion. Tellingly, the principle of production economy has not been forgotten either. The hull systems, avionics and the Viper propulsion system are 84 percent compatible with the aforementioned UH-1Y combat support helicopters, which will greatly simplify maintenance.
The issue of direct aviation support from the ILC is quite acute. It was originally planned to replace some of the retired AV-8B Harrier II attack aircraft by 2010 with the F-35B Lightning II multi-role fighters with short takeoff and landing under development. However, the delay in the delivery of the "fifth generation lightning" and the significant rise in the cost of its development actually deprive the US Marines of assistance from air strikes. The slowness of replacing "Harriers" with new machines imposes an increased load on the ILC helicopters.
The tendency to wash out old samples of aviation equipment from the line-up, well noticeable in the 90s and 2000s, paradoxically does not apply to some machines. There is no alternative, for example, the B-52 bomber. Simple, familiar and reliable Cobras have also become such weapons. Having received new "eyes" and "ears", these rotorcraft will be quite ready to pass into the sixth decade of blameless service.
