Armored Cav: A Guided Tour of an Armored Cavalry Regiment

by Tom Clancy

  • 10 fighter aircraft (on the ground)

  • 120 artillery sites

  • 42 SAM and AAA gun sites

  In addition to the listed kills, the Apache also assisted in capturing 4,764 Iraqi prisoners.

  And this takes us back to where we first started this discussion. For while the Apache is an excellent weapons system today, there is a massive upgrade plan that is being implemented for the future. In late 1996 a new Apache will enter production. Like the M1A2 and Paladin programs, the Army plans to digitize the Apache, with many of the capabilities that advanced ground vehicles have received. Thus, the Army Aviation and Troop Command at St. Louis, Missouri, has given McDonnell Douglas a contract to develop the AH-64D Longbow. Like many of the other new Army systems being fielded as part of General Sullivan’s new force, the AH-64D will be re-manufactured from existing AH-64A airframes.

  The plan is to strip out all of the existing electronic systems and replace them with new digital systems tied to a 1553 data bus. In addition, all of the cockpit instrumentation will be replaced with a combination of multifunction displays (MFDs) to ease crew workload. This is an important point, because on the AH-64D model, there is going to be a brand-new sensor system called Longbow. Longbow is a mushroom-shaped radar mounted on top of the Apache’s rotor mast. The Longbow millimeter-wave radar is designed to see ground and air targets in any weather, day or night. The AH-64D “pops up” from behind masking terrain or trees, and the radar makes just a few sweeps (it can scan either 360° around the Apache or just small pie-shaped sectors). Because the Longbow is designed for stealth, it is hard for enemy sensors to intercept or detect. Once the Longbow has made its sweep, the Apache drops back down under the terrain, and the onboard computer goes to work. Within seconds, the radar’s computer processor can detect and classify up to 256 targets by the following five categories:• tracked ground vehicle

  • wheeled ground vehicle

  • air-defense vehicle

  • airborne fast fixed-wing aircraft

  • airborne helicopter

  A prototype AH-64D Longbow banks sharply in flight testing near Mesa, Arizona. Note the mast-mounted radome and the full load of sixteen AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.

  MCDONNELL DOUGLAS HELICOPTER COMPANY

  The computer assigns each target a track ID number, and gives it a time/position and a speed and heading fix. Then the data is transmitted to every other airborne AH-64D and other compatible systems tied into the network (like IVIS, MCS, and AFATDS). Thus, the Longbow Apache is functioning as a battle-management platform (like a smaller version of the Air Force J-STARS radar plane or the Navy’s Aegis cruisers).

  Tied to the development of Longbow has been a new version of Hellfire called Hellfire Longbow. One of the guidance options for Longbow Hellfire is a millimeter-wave seeker that can be programmed to fly to a point over a suspected target, where it switches itself on. The Longbow Hellfire seeker is called a “brilliant” seeker, because it can discriminate between the different types of targets described above. When it sees its assigned target, the missile dives into the target, killing it. While an AH-64A Apache can fire and guide only one Hellfire at a time, the AH-64D can share Longbow radar data and fire up to sixteen Longbow Hellfire in a few seconds. As a bonus, the fire of many Apaches can be coordinated from a single Apache, allowing concentrated massing of fire. A flight of four AH-64Ds, each carrying a full load of sixteen Longbow Hellfires, might destroy up to 128 targets in just a few minutes. Even allowing for misses, it would be like annihilating three or four armored battalions in a few salvoes. Such is the firepower envisioned by General Sullivan: A handful of helicopters can literally demolish a tank brigade with the flick of a switch.

  Most models of the Blackhawk helicopter can be fitted with the External Stores Support System (ESSS). The external fuel tanks hold 230 gallons/920 liters each. This version is the MH-60K Special Operations Aircraft, which also carries an air-to-air refueling probe, as well as special night-vision and navigation equipment.

  SIKORSKY HELICOPTER-UNITED TECHNOLOGIES

  Currently, the plan is to equip one of every three AH-64Ds with the Longbow radar. Deliveries to the field begin in early 1997, with the first units equipped by late 1997.

  The UH-60 Blackhawk Utility Helicopter

  One of the hardest jobs in the world is trying to replace a classic. The HMMWV, for instance, had the tough job taking over from the Jeep, which it did—splendidly. And in doing that, it showed how common-sense engineering and mature technologies can make a new classic. This was the job Army Aviation took on when it set out to replace the ubiquitous helicopter of the Vietnam War, the UH-1 Iroquois. The Huey was loved by its crews, and appreciated by all of the military forces that have flown it. Even so, the UH-1 had to be replaced. There was an urgent need for an aircraft with improved ballistic protection, crashworthiness, load-carrying capacity, and survivability.

  To obtain this replacement, the Army initiated the Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System (UTTAS) program in the early 1970s. Three competitors submitted UTTAS program bids (Bell, Boeing-Vertol, and Sikorsky), with Boeing-Vertol and Sikorsky being selected to build prototypes for a competitive “fly off.” By 1974, both Boeing-Vertol, with their YUH-61A, and Sikorsky, with the YUH-60A (called the S-70 by Sikorsky), were ready to go head to head for the right to build UTTAS—clearly the biggest post-Vietnam Army Aviation program, both in terms of money and units. By 1976, the competition was completed, and the Sikorsky entry was judged the winner. Christened the UH-60A Blackhawk by the Army, it headed into production in 1979, with Sikorsky and the Army entering into a series of multi-year procurement contracts that still continue. To date, the Army has taken delivery, or has on order, over 1,500 UH-60s and their derivatives. In addition, Sikorsky has delivered hundreds of UH-60 and S-70 derivatives to other branches of the military (the U.S. Navy uses them for antisubmarine warfare and surveillance as the SH-60B/F Seahawk), as well as numerous foreign countries such as Japan, Turkey, and Australia, to name just a few. The UH-60/S-70 airframe has been a huge seller for Sikorsky, and has given birth to a number of different versions, ranging from the basic UH-60L being produced today, to the bizarre-looking MH-60K special-operations variant (one Sikorsky engineer described it as the “Battlestar Galactica”) for the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

  The basic statistics of the UH-60 family mask the importance of the Blackhawk in and on Army operations. Utilizing a pair of General Electric turboshaft engines, the Blackhawk has a basic weight (dry) of around 10,600 lb/4,818.2 kg, and a maximum gross weight of around 22,000 1b./10,000 kg. The flight crew consists of a pilot, copilot, and crew chief, and there are provisions for carrying eleven fully equipped troops, or fourteen passengers. There are also provisions for carrying a pair of M60 7.62mm machine guns in mounts along the sliding side doors. Top speed is around 160 knots/292.6 kph, with an endurance of roughly 2.3 hours, and a maximum range on internal fuel of 330 miles/603.5 kilometers. Its basic mission as a medium-lift helicopter is to move troops and their equipment into landing zones for air assaults and to haul supplies into places ground transport cannot reach. In addition, the UH-60 has been used extensively as a medical-evacuation helicopter, though a dedicated “dust off” version has yet to be procured by the Army. The UH-60 is designed for rapid deployment by air, with a C-130 able to hold one Blackhawk, and a C-5 able to hold six.

  The UH-60 can carry an External Stores Support System (ESSS), which consists of a pair of stub wings (on each side of the fuselage), with plumbing and wiring for extra fuel tanks, cargo pods, “Volcano” anti-armor mine dispensers, or even four-round Hellfire missile launchers. While the Blackhawk cannot fire Hellfires by itself (it lacks a laser target designator), it can launch missiles at targets “painted” by any other system equipped with a target designator.

  The L-model of the UH-60 is quickly becoming the Army Aviation equivalent of the HMMWV. It can lift the majority of the equipme
nt found in light, airborne, or air assault divisions. Thus, the UH-60L is regarded as a “divisional” lift asset, reducing the burden on the Army’s limited supply of CH-47 heavy lift choppers. As the name implies, the UH-60L is a follow-on to the basic UH-60A, with a number of modifications. These include:• Improved T-701 engines, with 1,940 shp per engine. In addition, the transmission has been up-rated to accommodate the additional horsepower.

  • Minor structural improvements have been made to the airframe and external cargo hook to accommodate slung payloads up to 9,000 lb/4,090 kg. This allows the UH-60L to externally carry payloads up to the size of an M1097 “Heavy Hummer” HMMWV.

  • The flight-control system has been modified to be more resistant to electromagnetic interference (EMI) that can occur from flying around power lines and other types of heavy-duty electrical equipment.

  • The cockpit instrumentation layout has been redesigned to reduce crew workload, particularly during night operations while utilizing night-vision goggles (NVGs). In particular, all of the cockpit lighting has been revised so that it is compatible with NVG usage.

  All of this makes the -L model Blackhawk the world’s best medium-transport helicopter. Only the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey being readied for production for the Marines is in the same class, and it is years from entering service.

  So what is the UH-60L like in the air? It may be the easiest and most comfortable helicopter to fly in all of the U.S. inventory. As you sit down in the right seat (the pilot sits in the right seat, the opposite of fixed-wing aircraft, though like most two-seater aircraft, the Blackhawk can be flown from either position) and adjust the seat to a comfortable position, the first thing that strikes you is the logic of all the instruments. Most of the important ones are of the “strip” variety, meaning that they are like electronic thermometers, showing their information by the rise and fall of an illuminated light along a scale. In addition, the pilot and copilot each have a block of warning indicators, called enunciators, to show critical information like fire warnings, high temperatures, and landing-gear status. There are the usual aircraft instruments, like an artificial horizon, as well as the readouts for the AHRS, TACAN, and GPS receiver. Much like the AH-64, the UH-60L has a full ECM suite with an RWR, as well as provisions for jammers and decoy launchers. The actual flying controls are conventional (for a helicopter) with the collective (essentially the engine power control) on the left and the cyclic (the pitch and directional controls) on a stick between your legs. There are also foot pedals to help in turning the helicopter during hovers and such, but I found that these are used only occasionally by Blackhawk crews. Once you have strapped in and are ready to get started, the crew chief gets out in front of the Blackhawk (where he’s tied in to the helicopter’s intercom system by a cable) to watch for any fires or problems during start-up. Engine start is just a matter of pressing a couple of buttons and waiting for the T-701s to warm up. As soon as all the warning enunciator lights are green (red ones are “bad,” as you might imagine), then you unlock the parking brake, push the cyclic forward, pull up slightly on the collective to apply power, and taxi forward to your take-off spot. Once you have called the tower for permission to take-off (the Blackhawk is equipped with the new SINCGARS jam/interception-resistant radios), you pull up gently on the collective, pitch the cyclic stick forward, and you’re airborne.

  Almost immediately, you notice how smooth and silky the Blackhawk flies. Part of this comes from just how well designed and balanced the power plants, transmission, and rotor system are. In fact, I was surprised to find that the Blackhawk does not have active vibration suppression like the OH-58D and some other helicopters. The other part of what makes the UH-60L so smooth is the auto-stabilization system that is tied to the flight-control system. This system smoothes out the control inputs and aircraft responses, and makes the Blackhawk ride like an American luxury car. It is a joy to fly, and the feeling of control, authority, and smoothness immediately translates to confidence in the UH-60’s ability to react to any situation. In fact, so easy is the Blackhawk to fly that commercial operators of other types of helicopters find that UH-60/S-70 flight crews frequently have to be retrained to fly what they call “real” helicopters. Hovering is almost simple: All you have to do is pull back the cyclic a bit to generate a small nose-up “flare” (this slows the helicopter down), adjust the collective, and there you are hanging in the middle of open air! It is an amazing feeling.

  All of this thrashing about in the air is fun, but low-level flying is what Army Aviation is all about, and the Blackhawk is well qualified for this kind of work. We recently got to join a UH-60L crew of the 4th Air Cavalry Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry, at Fort Bliss, Texas, on a hop out to an exercise area. Just to make things interesting, the entire flight was done at night (actually about 3 AM), with the crew utilizing their new AN/PVS-6 NVGs. As we lifted off, the crew was careful to establish their reference points and the line of the horizon. One of the risks in night flying is the sudden onset of vertigo, which can make aircrews trust their eyes and not their instruments. To reduce this risk, the pilot and copilot split up the flying and instrument-monitoring tasks. Periodically they like to switch, so that neither becomes fixated on what he is doing.

  As we flew out to the objective, the crew began to fly what is known as a “contour” flight profile. This has the Blackhawk transiting as quickly as possible (doing about 150 knots/275 kph), maintaining a constant altitude above ground-whatever the terrain-of about 50 feet/15.25 meters. Contour flying is an incredible thrill in the UH-60L, and the auto-stabilization system really smooths out the ride. The vertical movements are rapid, though never panicked or sudden. This makes the Blackhawk difficult to track for enemy gunners or SAM operators on the ground. It also tends to discourage any enemy attack helicopter crews or fighter planes from trying to get in a “cheap shot” at the transiting UH-60L. Unless your auto-stabilization system is better than the Blackhawk’s, maneuvering into a good close firing position on its tail could cause your flight path to intersect the terrain, terminating your flying career with extreme suddenness.

  On the ride out to the landing zone (LZ), the crew demonstrated how they make combat insertions of A-teams (scout patrols) and special-operations personnel. First came several fake insertions: The helicopter touched down and took off without unloading anything. In this way, should someone observe the Blackhawk’s maneuvers, they would not be sure of the team’s actual LZ. When the time for the insertion finally came, the crew chief told everyone to hold on, and get ready for a rapid stop. The pilot then applied a hard nose-up flare and dropped power, so that the forward motion of the Blackhawk stopped at the same time as the wheels touched the ground. As soon as this happened, the crew chief threw open one of the sliding side doors, the landing team leaped out, and the crew chief rapidly passed out equipment and supplies. Within ten to fifteen seconds, the team was clear, and the crew chief was slamming shut the side door and telling the pilot they were clear to lift off. Up in the cockpit, the pilot applied maximum collective power and pitched the cyclic stick forward to clear the LZ as quickly as possible. The flight crew then made several additional decoy landings before they dropped us off at the exercise area and returned to base.

  As the Blackhawk enters its second decade of military service, it has a track record of reliable performance and durability. And Blackhawks continue to be delivered in a variety of different models. In fact, the Sikorsky production line in Stratford, Connecticut, remains the busiest helicopter production line in the world today. The UH-60L will remain the standard medium-utility helicopter for the U.S. Army well into the 21st century.

  The OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Scout Attack Helicopter

  Question: What military aircraft has won the largest number of industry and government awards in the past few years for engineering excellence, customer satisfaction, and combat performance in the field? The AH-64 Apache? The F-117A stealth fighter? The OH-58D Kiowa Warrior?

  Answer: The OH-58D Ki
owa Warrior.

  “Huh? The what?” you ask (not surprisingly). Yet even if you’ve never heard of a Kiowa Warrior, the fact remains that there is no aircraft program anywhere in the U.S. military that has been more successful. What makes this more surprising is that not one new OH-58D airframe has ever been built for the U.S. Army. Every unit delivered for U.S. service has been converted from an existing airframe. If this sounds as intriguing to you as it did to me when I first heard the Kiowa Warrior story, then read on.

  Scouting and observation are among the most important of Army Aviation’s many missions. In fact, the first military mission for aircraft was airborne spotting by the balloons of Dr. Thadious Lowe during the American Civil War. Later, during World War I, the use of observation/reconnaissance aircraft led to the development of fighter aircraft to shoot them down.

  Like so many other weapons we have looked at, the OH-58D story begins in the Vietnam era. During the Vietnam War, the Army acquired a number of small scout helicopters to lead air cavalry assaults and spot targets for attack helicopters. Though the Army initially used the Hughes Helicopter OH-6 (now evolved into the McDonnell Douglas MD-500 series) for this mission, they eventually settled on a version of the popular Bell Helicopter-Textron Model 206 Jet Ranger to provide this vital service. Most people are familiar with the 206 as the helicopter used for traffic and television news reporting. The Army bought a number of these in the late 1960s and early 1970s, installed military radios and avionics (and little else, it turned out), and named them OH-58 Kiowas.

  The OH-58 proved adequate for scouting in daylight with the naked eye, but had severe limitations in darkness, fog, or haze. This became a serious problem when the OH-58s had to spot for the new anti-armor versions of the Cobra that were beginning to appear in the 1970s. OH-58 crews were able to sight “something” in the distance, but then they would have to call the Cobra attack helicopters (equipped with long-range stabilized optical systems) they were supposed to scout for so the Cobras could identify the targets for them!