Transport helicopters[edit]
Transport helicopters are used for transporting personnel (troops) and cargo in support of military operations. In larger militaries, these helicopters are often purpose-built for military operations, but commercially available aircraft are also used. The benefit of using helicopters for these operations is that personnel and cargo can be moved to and from locations without requiring a runway for takeoffs and landings. Cargo is carried either internally, or externally by slung load where the load is suspended from an attachment point underneath the aircraft. Personnel are primarily loaded and unloaded while the helicopter is on the ground. However, when the terrain restricts even helicopters from landing, personnel may also be picked up and dropped off using specialized devices, such as rescue hoists or special rope lines, while the aircraft hovers overhead.
Air assault is a military mission that relies heavily on the use of transport helicopters. An air assault involves a customized assault force that is assembled on the pick-up zone and staged for sequential transport to a landing zone (LZ). The idea is to use the helicopters to transport and land a large number of troops and equipment in a relatively short amount of time, in order to assault and overwhelm an objective near the LZ. The advantage of air assault over an airborne assault is the ability of the helicopters to continually resupply the force during the operation, as well as to transport the personnel and equipment to their previous location, or a follow-on location if the mission dictates.
- Transport helicopters
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UH-1D helicopters airlift members of a U.S. infantry regiment, 1966
Observation helicopters[edit]
By nature of the mission, the observation helicopter's primary weapons are its sensor suite and communications equipment. Early observation helicopters were effective at calling for artillery fire and
airstrikes. With modern sensor suites, they are also able to provide terminal guidance to ATGWs, laser-guided bombs and other missiles and munitions fired by other armed aircraft.
[4][5] Observation helicopters may also be armed with combinations of gun and rocket pods and sometimes
anti-tank guided missiles or
air-to-air missiles, but in smaller quantities than larger attack helicopters.
[6] Primarily, these weapons were intended for the counter-reconnaissance fight—to eliminate an enemy's reconnaissance assets—but they can also be used to provide limited direct fire support or close air support.
- Observation helicopters
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An
OH-58 Kiowa showing its mast mounted sight and a rocket pod.
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Maritime helicopters[edit]
Among the first practical uses of helicopters when the
R-4 and
R-5 became available to US and UK forces was deployment from navy cruisers and battleships, at first supplementing and later replacing
catapult-launched observation aircraft. Another niche within the capability of the early helicopters was as
plane guard - tasked with the recovery of pilots who had
ditched near an
aircraft carrier.
As helicopter technology matured with increased payload and
endurance,
anti-submarine warfare (ASW) was added to the helicopter's repertoire. Initially, helicopters operated as weapons delivery systems, attacking with
air-launched torpedoes and
depth charges based on information provided by its parent and other warships. In the 1960s, the development of the
turboshaft engine and
transistor technology changed the face of maritime helicopter aviation. The turboshaft engine allowed smaller helicopters, such as the
Westland Wasp, to operate from smaller vessels than their
reciprocating engine predecessors. The introduction of transistors allowed helicopters, such as the
SH-3 Sea King, to be equipped with integral dunking
sonar,
radar and
magnetic anomaly detection equipment. The result was an aircraft able to more quickly respond to submarine threats to the fleet without waiting for directions from fleet vessels.
Today, maritime helicopters such as the
SH-60 Seahawk and the
Westland Lynx are designed to be operated from
frigates,
destroyers and similar size vessels. The desire to carry and operate two helicopters from frigate- and destroyer-sized vessels has had an impact on the maximum size of the helicopters and the minimum size of the ships. Increasing
miniaturisation of electronics, better engines and modern weapons now allow even the modern, destroyer-based, multi-role helicopter to operate nearly autonomously in the ASW, anti-shipping, transport,
SAR and
reconnaissance roles.
Medium- and large-sized helicopters are operated from carriers and land bases. In the British, Spanish, and Italian navies, the larger helicopters form the main anti-submarine strength of carrier air wings. When operating from shore bases, the helicopters are used as anti-submarine pickets to protect against hostile submarines loitering outside military ports and harbours; their endurance and payload providing advantages over smaller helicopters.
Soviet maritime helicopters, operating from its cruisers, had the additional role of guidance of the cruisers' long range anti-shipping missiles.
Maritime helicopters are
navalised for operation from ships, this includes enhanced protection against salt water corrosion, protection against ingestion of water and provision for forced ditching at sea.
Multi-mission and rescue[edit]
- Multimission and Rescue helicopters
Bell 47 with patient transfer panniers.
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Training helicopters[edit]
Some services use a version of their operational helicopters, usually in the light class, for pilot training. For example, the British have used the
Aérospatiale Gazelleboth in operations and as a trainer. Some services also have an
Ab initio phase in training that uses very basic helicopters. The
Mexican Navy has acquired a number of the commercially available
Robinson R22[8] and
R44 helicopters for this purpose.
Tactics and operations[edit]
First generation Alouette anti-tank helicopter of the
German Army armed with
SS.10 missiles
An OH-58 and an AH-1 of the Hawaii
ARNG, such a combination would have formed hunter-killer team during the
Cold War.
[7]
While not essential to combat operations, helicopters give a substantial advantage to their operators by being a
force multiplier. To maximise their impact, helicopters are utilised in a
combined arms approach.
[9]
High intensity warfare[edit]
High-intensity warfare is characterized by large arrays of conventional armed forces, including mass formations of
tanks, with significant air defenses. Helicopter armament and tactics were changed to account for a less-permissive flight environment.
Anti-tank missiles, such as the
Nord SS.11 and the
Aérospatiale SS.12/AS.12 were developed and mounted on French military helicopters. In turn, the United States adapted its
BGM-71 TOW for firing from helicopters and eventually developed the
AGM-114 Hellfire. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union adapted the
3M11 Falanga missile for firing from the
Mil Mi-24.
In the air, attack helicopters armed with anti-tank missiles, and one or more unarmed, or lightly armed scout helicopters operate in concert. The scout helicopter, flying at low level in a
nap-of-the-earth approach, attempts to both locate the enemy armoured columns and to map out approaches and ambush positions for the attack helicopters. Late-model scout helicopters include laser designators to guide missiles fired from the attack helicopters. After finding a target, the scout helicopter can locate it and then direct the attack helicopter's missile where to fire. The attack helicopters have only to rise from cover briefly to fire their missiles before returning to a concealed location.
[7] Late-development of attack helicopters, such as the
Mil Mi-28N, the
Kamov Ka-52, and the
AH-64D Longbow, incorporate sensors and command and control systems to relieve the requirement for scout helicopters.
To enhance the
combat endurance of these missile-armed helicopters, transport helicopters were used to carry technicians, reloads and fuel to forward locations. Establishing these forward arming and refuel points (FARP) at pre-arranged locations and times allowed armed or attack helicopters to re-arm and refuel, often with their engines running and the rotors still turning, and to quickly return to the front lines.
[7]
Low intensity warfare[edit]
In counter-insurgency (COIN) warfare, the government force establishes its presence in permanent or temporary military bases from which to mount patrols and convoys. The government forces seek to deter the insurgent forces from operating, and to capture or kill those that do. The operation of forces from fixed bases linked by a fixed network of roads becomes a weakness. Emplaced insurgents and local sympathisers may observe such facilities covertly and gather intelligence on the schedules and routes of patrols and convoys. With this intelligence the insurgents can time their operations to avoid the COIN forces or plan ambushes to engage them, depending on their own tactical situation.
Helicopters return a measure of surprise and tactical flexibility to the COIN commander. Patrols need not start and end in the same place (the main entrance of the local compound), nor do supply convoys need follow the same roads and highways. During
the Troubles, the
Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) became adept at avoiding conventional, fixed roadblocks and patrols. To prevent predictable patterns, the patrols were deployed by helicopter, known as Eagle Patrols, and were then able to disrupt the IRA's ability to move personnel and arms.
[7] In the
aftermath of the
American invasion of Iraqhelicopters have been used as aerial supply trucks and troop transports to prevent exposure to ambushes set by the
Iraqi insurgency.
[10]
Due to the cost and complexity of training and support requirements, insurgent forces rarely have access to helicopters.
Manufacturers[edit]
In the Soviet-
planned economic system, the
Mil and
Kamov OKBs were responsible only for the design of helicopters. A 2006 re-organisation of the helicopter industry in Russia created
Oboronprom, a holding company to bring together Mil and manufacturing plants.
the karambit quickly spread throughout Southeast Asia and started developing strong roots in Malaysia and the Philippines. While the design of a karambit knife may vary slightly depending on its exact geographic origin, a karambit will always have an arcing blade and will offer its user functionality beyond that provided by a straight blade. Traditionally, the karambit's design is based on a tiger's claw. As such, the razor-sharp blade should be optimized for hooking, tearing, ripping, slicing and maximum efficiency with minimal effort.
Historically, the karambit was widely used as a utility blade during routine chores. It would have been considered the "every day carry" or EDC blade of ancient Southeast Asia. Even today, in remote Filipino and Indonesian regions, karambits crop up as the "pocket knife" of choice.
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