Is the Boeing AH-64 Apache The Ultimate Weapon?| The Ultimates: Combat Helicopters | Spark

Modern warfare is dominated by technology, never more so than with the gunship. Today's machines are lethal, agile and survivable. Combine that with new digital technology and we have the

ultimate

weapon

that will revolutionize the way battles are formed. After World War II, it became a new tool. At the disposal of commanders on the battlefield, the helicopter now made it possible to move troops and their equipment quickly across the

combat

zone. Helicopters did not need airfields because they could take off and land from a space the size of a tennis court and could operate on any terrain; natural barriers such as rivers, jungles and deserts were no obstacle for these machines.

Americans used

helicopters

in the Korean War to evacuate wounded troops to field hospitals. Helicopters made famous in the television series Mash and due to the short travel times many lives were lost. saved that would otherwise have been lost, but it was during the Vietnam War that the helicopter really made its mark. Instead of marching to the front lines, troops were flown along with their equipment and ammunition. At first they were simply troop transports, but they soon became a lethal vehicle. The strike

weapon

could not only protect troops and other

helicopters

, but could also unleash lethal force against the enemy on the ground.

Helicopters had changed battle tactics forever. Today, the helicopter is moving into a new era of digital battlefields using digital technology. Commanders will be able to know the exact position of their troops' aircraft and weapons, as well as the position of the enemy at any given moment, and will also be able to send this information instantly to their troops on the ground and in the sky using a gigantic military Internet. The digital battlefield is considered the most important advancement in warfare, as the helicopter leading the charge into the digital age is the deadliest helicopter ever built. The Apache Longbow is the

ultimate

attack helicopter and the first to be connected to digital battlefields using sophisticated radar.

It can detect and engage multiple targets using its 30-millimeter cannon rockets and precision-guided Hellfire missiles. It is the number one killing machine and the number one flying machine for pilots. This is the most advanced machine for flying. It's like flying a Ferrari, the Apache plane. It was designed to be a heavy attack platform for the military, so it provides not only a heavy attack type of capability, but also provides close air support and armed escort for other aircraft. The Apache is designed for

combat

both day and night. Having seen action in Panama, Somalia, Bosnia and both Gulf Wars, his lethal combat record matches his name.

Army aircraft are usually named after Indian tribes within the United States and the Apache aircraft was named after the Apache tribe, who were fierce warriors during the early days of the United States, so it was appropriate to name this aircraft. in honor of the Apache tribe because we are looking to create a very fierce combat weapons platform. One of the reasons the Apache Longbow is so effective as an attack helicopter is that the detection is different. and information processing technologies have been integrated into a single aircraft, in the nose of the aircraft there are sensors that identify and track targets day and night using high resolution television, infrared and lasers, information from the sensors is displayed in the eyepiece of the pilot in the helmet, which is linked to the weapon, so wherever the pilot looks, the tips of the weapon also on top of the Apache is the long arc radar capsule that is used to locate and track targets using a technique called unmasking , the helicopter hides behind cover and then appears above the tree line to allow the radar to detect the enemy before dropping out of sight again, what makes the long arc on the Apache plane is that radar control fire, is that ability to detect, classify and prioritize targets in a matter of seconds and then download that data to display it at the front. of the pilot, in addition to downloading that information into the rf missile, the

apache

longbow is the first helicopter in service updated for the digital battlefield.

Missions are planned on computers and then transferred to the aircraft, this way pilots can upload all the data and navigation information for the mission instantly and without errors, there is no way to overemphasize what digitalization will mean for the field of battle because in the past you normally saw the enemy, you faced the enemy, now you can quickly determine where the enemy is and where the friends are. They are and in a matter of seconds attack them with any weapon system on the battlefield because the longbow is digital many of its systems can be easily replicated in a simulator, this means that pilots can train on a device that simulates missions real without even putting planes or pilots at risk at fort rucker alabama the united states army is training longbow

apache

helicopter pilots in four state-of-the-art simulators, a bit like giant video games, digitally replicating the exact flight profile and helicopter driving, in fact, is a uh, a huge video game, it's also a very expensive video game and it's very real, and obviously what we do is very real, so it's a big benefit for us to have this trainer so that we can train them and have them ready to fight against the new. the trainees have the ability to come here they learn how to start the plane they learn to familiarize themselves with the cockpits then they can fly the plane they get some experience actually flying the machine and they can work with their fellow commander on real missions the pilots must not only look for to the enemy but also to other Apaches, this system can even link the simulators.

There's an old joke about simulators that you have to be careful of other simulators. Well here it is real, these simulators can be linked together and you can. In fact, look left and right at the other simulated airplanes. The boat crew trainer allows us to simulate the digital battlefield and here we can simulate almost everything, so it is essential for the future. The simulator can recreate most battlefield scenarios, but when the pilots are on a real mission there are real bullets being fired at them. The Apache Longbow helicopter's role is to engage the enemy, so it has to be able to survive hostile fire.

It is designed with a slim profile that makes it difficult to hit when attacked head-on and is heavily armored. The cabin, this here is an armored panel that will come out and protect us on both sides. Between the cabin we have an explosion shield that will prevent any type of bullet. If a bullet enters one of the cabins, it will. Do not penetrate the other cockpit to remove both pilots. The flight controls and computer systems have backup in case they are deactivated by enemy fire. In addition, the rotor blades and fuel tanks can receive impacts without failure and even the gearbox. changes can run out of oil for 30 minutes to give it greater survivability, the Apache longbow is primarily a killing machine and requires special qualities to become its pilot.

What is the aggressive nature of an attack pilot? The attack pilot is always out there looking for a fight and is willing to jump into battle. scrap metal and he is willing to risk his neck to protect the soldiers on the ground the attack pilot is his most aggressive type a personality that is going to come out and his job is to want to get into the fight that he is We will have the courage to want to stay in the fight and complete the first mission. We are there to protect the ground boys. We're there to protect other helicopters that we can escort and we're very, very mission-oriented.

This is the best job you can ever have. I wouldn't change it for the world. What unites all pilots everywhere is their shared passion for flying regardless of the plane or their role. Nolan Beck has been flying for 18 years and is a Pilot. testing on one of the most successful military helicopters ever manufactured, the Black Hawk. I love flying any airplane, but what I like most about the Blackhawk is its versatility. I can move troops one day across enemy lines, move cargo one day, and move external loads. the next day it is very easy to change it is not the same mission every day the blackhawk flies 50 of the army's flight hours fifteen hundred and fifty of them we are still buying them to go to sixteen hundred and eighty it performs all the important aviation missions that We have can be fully armed and is fully armed in various configurations.

The Black Hawk has been in every war the United States has fought since the 1980s. It is a utility helicopter that performs virtually all jobs on the battlefield, transportation of troops and equipment, medical evacuation, search and rescue, even command and control missions the history of the blackhawk is such that it was named after a blackhawk chief who was a chief of the Sauk tribe in the Rock Island Illinois area and the chief was He sided with the British in the War of 1812. And after that war he became very close to some of our leaders, particularly in 1833, President Andrew Jackson was very impressed with his candor, courage and convictions and we became a great national icon and we later called the plane the black hawk. after the boss, the blackhawk is a pretty powerful plane, it can carry a lot of troops and a lot of equipment, it arrives quickly and handles quite well, it responds very well.

The Black Hawk, like all combat helicopters, flies low when possible to avoid detection and attack. One of the other great advantages of flying a helicopter is being able to fly at treetop level, this reduces exposure time. to enemy forces, which improves your survival rate, on the other hand, when you fly close to trees. Anything sticking out of the trees could pose a danger to your plane, so you should constantly scan the outside of the plane and make sure you don't run into obstacles. I have flown high-performance airplanes and helicopters and I have flown a helicopter at treetop level.

I think it's much more exciting than flying a plane at high altitude, but for all its excellence, the Black Hawk is not equipped for the coming digital age. We seek to overcome the enemy in many ways. Lethality. Survival. uh. Sustainability. Transportability. I mean, we have so many. In many ways we want to be far superior to our enemy, one of which is information or digitalization. Information is crucial to success on the battlefield. Digitalization provides commanders and pilots with situational awareness, which is the ability to know at any time exactly where the enemy is. The enemy, like friendly forces, is essential if one wants to attack the enemy and does not want allies.

The importance of that cannot be overstated, that is very, very profound. Colonel Lake sees it more as a one-sided chess game. I guess there's an analogy and I heard it a long time ago when digitalization was in its infancy and these concepts were being reported to military leaders at the time and they compared it to a game of chess where there was a two-sided mirror and uh a The person on one side could see what both teams were doing and the other person could only see what he was doing in the mirror and of course it's worse than that because that person probably wouldn't even be able to tell what . he was doing, but it's probably a great analogy, you can see everything, they can only see what they are doing at best despite their excellent combat record.

If the Black Hawks become part of the future digital military, they will need a digital upgrade for about half the price of a new aircraft. We can remanufacture uh-60a models. We give them 20 more. 20 additional years of useful life. Full glass cabin. We eliminated analog steam meters. We eliminate the problem of avionics obsolescence. We restore the plane treated against corrosion and stress. and that kind of thing put on more powerful engines, wide cable blades, it becomes more maneuverable, will fit perfectly with the target force and will give the military the utility helicopter for the next 20 to 30 years without having to go out. and start again for now the black hook has an interim update with digital displays in the medevac model this is the HH60L the latest version of the medevac blackhawk helicopter has a medevac interior with stretchers in the rear and an infrared facing forward mounted in the nose, if you look forward the main difference in the cockpit is a step towards digitalization to move away from the old steam gauges, we have a flight management system that allowsthe pilot centralized control of all communications and navigation functions and a multifunction system. liquid crystal display that displays clear images and also displays flight plan and communication and navigation information to keep successful designs on track is the policy of the United States Army a machine that has moved from analog to digital is Blackhawk's big brother, the 50-foot-long chin hook weighing 32,000 pounds, the twin-rotor Chinook has been in service since the Vietnam War in 1972, but despite its age it has improved for the digital battlefield.

Tandem rotors, a tail loading ramp, and the ability to carry heavy loads slung underneath, make the Chinook the most versatile military helicopter ever created. This one is named after a Chinook tribe, but it also generates a lot of wind and there is a Chinook wind, so it's almost like a flying tornado with the amount of downdraft that this plane generates most helicopters. Like the Apache and Blackhawk they use a main rotor for lift and have a smaller tail rotor that prevents the fuselage from rotating; However, this uses a significant amount of engine power that could have been used for lift in a tandem rotor helicopter like the Chinook, both of them.

The main rotors spin in opposite directions, negating any tendency of the fuselage to want to spin, so all the available power from the twin engines goes to both rotors solely for lift. We are talking about the Chinook being a helicopter with a tanner engine and it is a innovation, it's not really an innovation, it's a 40 year old innovation that stood the test of time because it provides such great longitudinal stability and control within the airplane that the chinook is king. of the heavyweight has been able to carry 26,000 pounds, the equivalent of a small tank, it is especially good at high altitude work where air is scarce and blade efficiency deteriorates.

It has been the only helicopter US forces have had that has been capable of operating at altitudes above 16,000 feet in Afghanistan. I don't want to get into criticizing my Blackhawk brothers because it is a great aircraft for what it is designed to do, it just wasn't capable of operating with any payload at the time. altitude, in addition to being able to operate at high altitudes, the Chinook is just as good at low levels, it was designed to float like a boat and can land on water for special operations. These elite forces have retrofitted their Chinooks with long-range tanks and the ability to refuel in flight and add classified weapons and electronics to this extraordinary aircraft.

Because the Chinook is an extremely large aircraft, it requires a crew of four. . Probably the most important aspect of flying this aircraft is proper crew coordination. There are drivers up front, however, probably the two most important ones. The important people on the aircraft would be the flight engineer and the crew chief. Those people are responsible for securing the loads that call us to the landing zones and maintaining clearance for an aircraft as large as all the pilots. Major Jones still has that passion for flying that started when he was a child, well, flying a helicopter is something I always wanted to do since I was a child and flying at the speed of sound is certainly exciting, but I think there is nothing like fly in a cover, you know, just above the trees on the surface of the earth under low-light night vision goggles.

No, I don't think there is anything more challenging than the fact that there are several different versions of the Chinook and the latest has been developed as a digital aircraft with computers and digital displays. These upgrades are expected to extend the life of the Chinook by another 20 years and successfully integrate it into the digital battlefield. However, upgrading pilots is not that simple. Old dogs like me, who have been flying this for quite some time, are used to it all. the old analog systems the kids emerging today have grown up with computers, they have adapted it through learning through the process, the learning curve to transition to this type of environment is more difficult for me because I learned in something else and I have What we call negative habit transfer is trying to overcome that Crosby philosophy: If you want to try this system fairly, go to the mall and find the kid who's been playing video games all day and come see how he's doing. with the United States moving towards a fully digitalized military they will still be able to fight alongside their less technologically advanced allies we are going to work with allies we are going to work with friends and that does not make their systems ineffective if they are not digitalized, it will reduce their effectiveness as we have done, that is why we are striving to digitize our platforms because we see it as an improvement in effectiveness, meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, the British Royal Navy is also working to create its own digitized helicopter force in the second gulf war.

The closest ally that worked alongside the United States was the United Kingdom. The Royal Navy has its own fleet of combat helicopters, some of the most advanced in the world, like the American helicopters. They have excellent designs, but in the race towards digitalization some are still behind a successful one. The aircraft that needs an upgrade is the Royal Navy's Lynx Mark 8 helicopter. The Lynx holds the world speed record at 400 kilometers per hour and is designed as an anti-surface and anti-submarine helicopter. The Lynx is the fastest production helicopter in the world and it is very very agile it has a special rotor head that allows it to be very aerodynamic compared to other helicopters it makes it a wonderful aircraft to fly as a pilot it is especially agile it is not very forgiving because it's very nervous but uh yes so Driving a sports car compared to many other helicopters is like driving a bus.

A revolutionary British-designed rotor system allows the helicopter to fly faster because the vane shape of the blades improves airflow over its surface and delays onset. of blade loss keeping the flight crew fully trained for war is a never ending task today 702 squadron is being briefed on an exercise to fire real spike missiles from the lynx mark 8 well good morning gentlemen the objective of the report this morning is to shoot and to report on the firing of 15 real sea spike guns that each crew will fire today. This is a rare occasion to fire real missiles, so the crew listens carefully.

The targets he is firing at are 20 nautical miles northwest of Aberporth in Cardigan Bay. and consist of four 100 foot barges with radar reflective targets attached, plus they have our main anti-surface weapon and we have 15 missiles to launch, some of them are reaching the end of their useful life and we are also trying to ensure that some of the young of the unit are gaining some experience in firing their missiles. The spike is a medium-range semi-active missile and its primary purpose is to damage and burn if you like smaller fast patrol boats and smaller corvette-sized frigates. The two-person lynx crew consists of a pilot and an observer.

My role is to detect enemy shipping, classify it so we know we are finding the right target, and then deploy the weapon to eliminate it. with the radar and then using the radar I guide the missile towards the target the sea spike is an extremely effective missile its high explosive warhead only detonates once it penetrates the skin of the ship creating internal fires which I have flown safely many times in bosnia and kosovo in the 90s, however, this is the first time i shot one. It's very exciting, in fact, a little nervous obviously, but it's a very good feeling of satisfaction when the missile is released, the engines start up and, on closer inspection, when we had a look at the targets it hit exactly where we expected it to impact.

The mission was a success, as the spike opened a hole in the target. In addition to the spike missile, the Lynx can also carry torpedoes and depth charges for the anti-submarine warfare it has recently launched. acquired a new half-inch caliber machine gun for use against fast-moving ships, but despite all the market ties, its combat effectiveness has not yet been digitized for the future battlefield to allow us to be part of the field. of digital battlespace that we need to have the same equipment and equipment compatible with all of our NATO allies and other allies that we are likely to work with the other aircraft within the fleet era are coming to the digital battlespace which includes search mark 7 and the Merlin, we are a little behind. that, but the improvements we hope to achieve in the coming years should allow us to catch up and be poor to be part of that integrated picture.

Some Royal Navy helicopters have entered the digital battlefield and have been the workhorse of the sea king for many years. royal navy which now houses the technology to bring the fleet into the 21st century, although the sea king is over 30 years old, the new version of the mark 7 has been radically improved electronically using a large mobile radar capsule on its side, it is now the first advanced surveillance and control of helicopters in the world, the avionics have been completely updated, so the radar is new, it is a very powerful radar and also it has a state-of-the-art data link which is basically an information transmission in real time to anyone within the theater of operations.

A big leap for the navy, the main thing is that we have moved away from the sole function of aw to air surveillance from control, which means that the aircraft carrier can take this platform and carry out complete control of space management of battle of aircraft, ships and ground forces. On one platform, what makes the Mark 7C King so special is that it can process three different radar modes at the same time, meaning it can transmit information between sea, air and land contacts and control all those areas of operation instantly. and at the same time send the data back to your ship via a new fast digital connection known as link 16.

The platforms used in that role are typically large fixed wings with about a dozen crew members. The nice thing about this is that we can stick it on an aircraft carrier. with three crew members and provided virtually the same service, although the equipment was very new to the crews of 849 Squadron, while working alongside the Americans in the Second Gulf War, they produced spectacular results that were crucial to the Allied campaign of the Second War. from the Gulf with Mark 7. It played a vital role not only for our own forces, but Link 16 allowed it to integrate with the Americans and also with our troops on the ground, so we were able to transmit that information to them instantly.

There is still room for further development in the helicopter. One area we still need to address is exactly our own self-defense. We are currently looking at several systems that will provide our aircraft with their own set of defense support, so at the moment we are heavily reliant on other forces that actually protect. our aircraft, but the performance of the Mark 7 has been so impressive that new capabilities are being discovered almost daily. There is still a lot to learn. I mean, we've only had it on the front lines for a little over a year, so we're learning. things all the time I mean the gulf war was a huge learning curve for us and that continues from the most sophisticated digital controlled and surveillance system in the world to the most modern combat helicopter in service anywhere.

The Royal Navy Merlin is the first helicopter to be developed by the Royal Navy in 25 years and it is a huge leap forward in technology for the UK it is a fantastic aircraft to fly very very maneuverable I mean given its size um it is particularly maneuverable um I've flown five or six different ones. There are many types of helicopters now, but this one is definitely my favorite. It has a lot of power. The Rolls-Royce engines produce a lot of power for the plane and it is a lot of fun to fly. The Merlin is undoubtedly the most advanced helicopter in service in the world today.

It has a fantastic avionics suite with three redundant engines in almost all systems, but we can also stay out longer by turning off one of the engines in flight, making our endurance particularly good for up to four and a half to five hours. with an engine off. below the merlin has two main functions in anti-submarine and anti-surface combat we can carry four stingray torpedoes four mark ii depth chargers or a variety of general purpose gpmg machine guns that we can mount on the door ofthe cabin and the windows the radar is very powerful, it is what we call a pulse compression radar, so what it does is send a very powerful pulse over long distances and we can trace contacts up to 160 miles away.

What the radar also does is automatically track those contacts for us and give us the tracking and time information which again can be transmitted via the data link to the surface units on the six LCD screens, we have all the information from the sensors They are shown in a variety of colors, for example, we can show hostile ones in red. The friends that we can display are green and those color screens are sent to the ship, so immediately when it comes in over the data link, the ship knows whether we think it's a hostile or friendly unit because the Merlin is digital, it's easy to run simulated missions. a dedicated Merlin training center that houses four simulators, all of which can be connected from a main control room, allowing crews to practice all types of missions in a safe and controlled environment, all this high technology and the promise of a future digital battlefield to be seen and Thinking on computer screens makes war start to look like a giant video game, but what would such a game be like?

There is a chance to glimpse this future at a military base in Alabama, at Fort Rucker, they are training officers and pilots to fight wars in a super simulator called cav sim in this headquarters simulation, commanders are learning how to fight the battles of today with its troops and helicopters. They are in communication with their pilots who fly eight simulated helicopters. Each cubicle can be configured to provide any helicopter needed for the exercise here at Master Control, also known as the stealth room, instructors play God, managing the battle and controlling the enemy in charge, it is the captain and not the commander, tracks the battle using sticky notes on a regular map and butcher blocks or a sheet of paper just to that I'm actually looking at a computer screen that tells me exactly where everyone is and how the computer is connected in the The enemy, the friends, the planes and I can see the big picture very similar to the one we will have in a few years, where everything is tracked.

All vehicles. We know exactly where they are. We know exactly where the enemy is. You can see. It's all a real vision of how battles will be fought in the future, it's very similar to a video game and I tease my kids and wife daily that that's what I do all day, play video games. Roger, I just got a call. from eagle five huh, what you want to do, but the video game is becoming a reality in west palm beach, florida, it's the beginning of a new era for warfare, the digital age at aresearch facility in south florida the first helicopter of the world conceived and designed to be fully digital is under test called Comanche is scheduled to be in service in 2009 everything from detection systems to flight controls has been created to work on the digital battlefield this aircraft is the culmination of everything that has come before and can truly be called the ultimate combat helicopter.

The head of the project, Colonel Bob Birmingham, has watched the development of the program for many years. This is plane number two. It is a second Comanche prototype. We have had a very successful flight test. program and this has been a big part on the front end, we have recently integrated our electrical optical sensor system and then very soon in the future we will be able to design in our laser warning receiver and our radar and receiver. On the front end, the cockpits that we designed are really identical in terms of the way the flight control systems operate and what the screens will show the pilots, and we did that really to reduce the amount of training that will be needed.

To actually operate the aircraft, this is actually where we're going to house our missile systems and it also gives us the ability to store internal fuels which, as we need to fly deeper missions, you can see there really isn't any exhaust system. here. We're actually going to vent the exhaust and we're going to cool the exhaust and the heat from that through an exhaust system that's going to go all the way to the tail when you get to the tail and if you take a look at the rotor system you can really see why this airplane is really different.

These are the bearingless rotor system, the five-bladed rotor system with torque tubes running through the system and giving it a tremendous amount of power, strength and flexibility. The fan tail again has a very robust design that actually handles about 900 shaft horsepower that comes directly from the motors there and you can see that the way we have this design is a very protected area that really gives it a tremendous protection capacity against the enemy. ballistic capability of the threat systems and, again, a unique and robust design, unlike previous helicopters, the flight control computers ensure that the pilot flies within the limitations of the machine and prevents him from over-stressing the airframe. aircraft and rotor system or damage the engines by using excessive power on this flight.

The by-wire system gives the Comanche some unique handling qualities. Test pilot Bill Fall explains that I have flown several other helicopters and if you in another helicopter took the stick and took it from the end of one side shaft to the other end side shaft. Even if you did it slowly, you probably broke something on that helicopter. On this helicopter I can hit the stick back and forth as fast as I can and I haven't broken anything in everything I've done. As a result, incredible swing speeds are achieved. The aircraft can perform maneuvers that until now designers could only dream of.

With this plane we can fly backwards at more than 80 knots. We can fly sideways at more than 70 knots. Those are not things you can do. on other helicopters and this plane handles it very well, also when flying backwards at 80 knots or sideways at 70 knots, you can do it with your hand off the controls, it will do everything on its own basically if the computer is flying the plane for Then reduce your workload so you can do other tasks. You can help target and assist in communications. The Comanche was designed from the beginning to survive on the battlefield.

Officially it is not called stealthy, but it is said to have low observability. an extremely slim shape that makes it difficult to detect by radar and difficult to see at a distance and its retractable landing gear further reduces its observable profile also by burying the engines internally and by having a clever tail rotor design, noise generated is greatly reduced to minimize the risk of thermal detection. Hot exhaust gases from the engines are cooled within the tail before leaving the aircraft, thus reducing the threat of attack by heat-seeking missiles. All of the plane's systems are digital, but what sets the Comanche apart is the onboard information collection.

Computers, the brain of this aircraft, are really about the aircraft's ability to gather information. All fully integrated into the cockpit, into the mission control computer cluster, which provides the ability to get an enormous amount of information from the sensors that come out, these digital detection systems. The systems will be able to provide the commander's backup base with constant information about the enemy's position and his own forces. The Comanche will become the eyes and ears of future commanders, giving them the power to control the battlefield. The Comanche is clearly a generation technology skip this is not one generation better than its predecessors that we have out there this is two generations better this does things twice as well as any of the conventional aircraft we have out there and it does it twice the faster this will transform In the world, this will change the way we fight wars.

In the world, this is an information system and information is power and that is what the Comanche provides future commanders.