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The AAFSS requirement gave birth to the Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne, a heavy attack helicopter with high speed capability.
The Army's solution to the shortcomings of the Sioux Scout was to launch the Advanced Aerial Fire Support System (AAFSS) competition. After evaluating the Sioux Scout in early 1964, the Army was impressed, but also felt the Sioux Scout was undersized, underpowered, and generally not suited for practical use. The Sioux Scout had all the key features of a modern attack helicopter: a tandem cockpit, stub wings for weapons, and a chin-mounted gun turret.
Bell modified a Model 47 into the Model 207 Sioux Scout which first flew in July 1963. The Army was interested and awarded Bell a proof-of-concept contract in December 1962. It featured a grenade launcher in a ball turret on the nose, a 20 mm belly-mounted gun pod, and stub wings for mounting rockets or SS.10 anti-tank missiles. The Iroquois Warrior was planned to be a purpose-built attack aircraft based on UH-1B components with a new, slender airframe and a two-seat, tandem cockpit. In June 1962, Bell displayed the mockup to Army officials, hoping to solicit funding for further development. Iroquois Warrior, Sioux Scout and AAFSS īell had been investigating helicopter gunships since the late 1950s, and had created a mockup of its D-255 helicopter gunship concept, named "Iroquois Warrior". The linchpin of US Army tactics was the helicopters, and the protection of those helicopters became a vital role. The massive expansion of American military presence in Vietnam opened a new era of war from the air.
By 1962, a small number of armed UH-1As were used as escorts, armed with multiple machine guns and rocket mounts. Without friendly support from artillery or ground forces, the only way to pacify a landing zone was from the air, preferably with an aircraft that could closely escort the transport helicopters, and loiter over the landing zone as the battle progressed. It soon became clear that the unarmed troop helicopters were vulnerable against ground fire from Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops, particularly as they came down to drop their troops in a landing zone. Instead, the plan was that the troops carried by fleets of UH-1 "Hueys" would range across the country, to fight the enemy at times and places of their own choice. Unlike before, they would not stand and fight long battles, and they would not stay and hold positions. The UH-1 made the theory of air cavalry practical, as the new tactics called for US forces to be highly mobile across a wide area. 1.1.1 Iroquois Warrior, Sioux Scout and AAFSSĬlosely related to the development of the Bell AH-1 is the story of the Bell UH-1 Iroquois-an icon of the Vietnam War and one of the most numerous helicopter types built.Furthermore, surplus AH-1 helicopters have been reused for other purposes, including civilian ones numerous examples have been converted to perform aerial firefighting operations. Upgraded versions of the Cobra have been developed, such as the twin engined AH-1 SeaCobra/SuperCobra and the experimental Bell 309 KingCobra. Turkish AH-1s have seen regular combat with Kurdish insurgents near Turkey's southern borders. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) operated the Cobra most prolifically along its land border with Lebanon, using its fleet intensively during the 1982 Lebanon War. In US Army service, the Cobra was progressively replaced by the newer and more capable Boeing AH-64 Apache during the 1990s, with the final examples being withdrawn during 2001. The first examples of the type entered service with the United States Army during 1967 other branches of the US military also opted to acquire the type, particularly the United States Marine Corps, while export sales were made to numerous overseas countries, including Israel, Japan, and Turkey.įor several decades, the AH-1 formed the core of the US Army's attack helicopter fleet, seeing combat in Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, and Iraq. Accordingly, the AH-1 was a dedicated attack helicopter, featuring a tandem cockpit, stub wings for weapons, and a chin-mounted gun turret. It was produced in response to fulfil a need for a dedicated armed escort for transport helicopters to give the latter greater survivability in contested environments. The AH-1 was developed using the engine, transmission and rotor system of the Bell UH-1 Iroquois, which had proven itself to be a capable platform during the Vietnam War. A member of the prolific Huey family, the AH-1 is also referred to as the Hue圜obra or Snake. The Bell AH-1 Cobra is a single-engined attack helicopter developed and manufactured by the American rotorcraft manufacturer Bell Helicopter.