Come on mate, you know I cant stop touching my minigun
You have been so distracted by that wonderful sound that you may have missed the bit where I said AFS is not so much about the airframe as it is the weapons systems. Dont confuse the AFS capability with the Huey airframe. The Huey airframe has no place on the battlefield of today and I count myself truly fortunate to have never had to fly it anywhere near a two-way range. But the mini/rocket/twin M60B weapon systems are superior to that of the Tiger for AFS (not for attack, not for armed recce, but for AFS). Calling the Tiger a "heavily armed gunship" is a bit rich, but calling it the world's premier armed recce bird is not.
Remembering that I think the Tiger is the bees knees for armed recce, that the project intro is a shining light in ADF procurement, and the purchase is a great thing for the Army, indulge me in my AFS fantasy for the fun of it.... after all, I'm in the right kind of mood !!
Timor. Mission went off fine and beaut without AFS, a few fighting withdrawals aside. I know that the ground pounders would have liked to see them, even if you and I feel it was not mission essential. Learning something off the Russians here, there is apparently nothing quite like a regular gunship fire power demo for the locals, just to make them think twice. A quick couple of mini bursts up and down the airport perimeter every few sunsets with 100% trace does wonderful things for our morale, and really makes the enemy question the risks. A few vacant hillsides out bush used for rocket and mini practice also makes interesting viewing for the locals and turns the sound of the Huey into an entirely different proposition. Ah, but we have hindsight - and I've already mentioned the spilt milk.
On your other point, I am assuming you are proposing that your novel-inspired helicopter ambush sceario would not have affected the Tiger because of it's standoff range and precision sighting devices? Good point. It can simply come to the hover, out of range (BTW it's a lot more than 800m! for 12.7 and .50 Barret) and pop the bad guys off at leisure. Sounds great.
Now fast forward to the fractured FEBA typical of today's likely engagement scenarios, and every time you come to the hover you are risking doing so above another RPG weilding poo-eater fumbling with the safety as fast as he can, or his wife trying rapidly to pull her AK-47 out of the pram directly behind you. Sitting still is uncool. Very uncool. Even orbiting the same area blows, just as the 160th Black Hawks discovered in Somalia - even in a robust damage tolerant airframe.
So, now you are saying the Tiger is going to fly around at tree top height, 2500m plus from the hidden ambush, AND find them amongst the clutter (remember you dont know they are there - as in "ambush") AND pop them off within close vicinity of own troops. Now THAT is impressive. Especially impressive is how you positively identify them whilst flying at tree top hieght!! What if they open up as you pass by? You have no side/rear protection, or even ability to see them. What to do?
Back to AFS, whose role is not to sniff out point targets, standoff and destroy/nuetralise them, it is to provide Aerial Fire Support to ground forces. Lets say a troop of SAS are under fire and are attempting a withdrawal across "Sh!t Creek".
"Pierre, Pierre, this is Chicken Strangler, withdrawing east from Sh!t Creek under heavy fire from west. Smoke everything on the west bank ASAP, over"
"Chicken Stranglers, diss eze Pierre une Tigre, world's mozz famouz pilote d'helicoptere and of corz, helicoptere itzelf. Dee two of us can zee some of dee, how you say eet, bady guyz??, yez!, Ve are aving dee tres difficile time zeeing most of ze bady guys through ze trees with ze TI. But vee vill have to pause until you are at least anozer 200m away for le danger close, no?"
Then suddenly.......Over the radio with a vague background track from Wagner comes...
"Hey Pierre record this ya poof: Chicken Stanglers this is Mr Magoo inbound from the south, confirm no friendly west of Sh!t Creek, over"
"Chicken Stanglers, I confirm no friendlies west, over"
"Magoo, target is troops in treeline west of creek advancing east, no fire is to be directed east of the creek line, attack direction up Sh!t Creek, racetrack, right break, Clear In Live!"
I wonder if the above gives you any idea of the differences?
Sometimes, you just have to get in close and look to see the enemy, you cannot standoff at thousands of metres with a 20deg field of view, creating a dust cloud and being a stationary target yourself. As I said abve, this is the reason for the 911 success in Iraq, and for the little birds in Somalia. Ever wondered why the 160th doesnt take Apache?
Two more cirtitcal points, then I'm out of ammo! Promise.
when Abdullah and Nooradim and his mates want to kill you, you really need off axis capability
Hearin you. You are a man after me own 'eart on this one. You may not know this, but the Oz Huey gunship was designed by Aussies and then chosen in PREFERENCE to the AH-1 in Vietnam specifically BECAUSE of this issue!! After flying and trialling both in combat.
The Yanks went the AH-1 for speed, agility, and the skinny fuselage. They revised tactics to dive from hieght and speed, then break whilst still high, and climb up (weather permitting of course). These tactics changes, and the new fuselage shape were credited with reducing the gunship losses by almost 30%, though I have heard this figure quoted up to 80% (and the truth is I am relying on faded memory here, so feel free to shoot me down)!! But the Aussies still went for the Huey.
They did this because the break could be conducted at a 100 to 200m and be protected both by the twin M60Bs, and then quickly by the main armament of the next aircraft. The M60s are capable of off axis right around to the tail, and the gunner doesnt need to do an exorcist impression with his head just to see the target. Several Bushranger pilots have told me that the door gunners were the most accurate weapon they had because they were engagiing from 100 to 200m into a target area they could clearly see with a reduced closure/crossing rate and no requirement to be flying the aircraft at the same time. In addition, the aircraft was specicifcally designed with 2 minis, 2 rocket tube sets, and 2 M60s on each doorgun mount so that the aircraft had weapon redundancy at all times in the firing sequence. Try going into the break in a Tiger configured frame. One cannon for the attack run, extremly limited off axis in the break, (who is driving aircraft, who is firing gun), pleeeeeaase god, dont jam now...., and who is watching for and covering off axis threats during attack run and escape?
As I said before mate, the Huey aint the answer to modern AFS, and certainly not to attack, or armed recce but lets not kid ourselves that the new girl has improved the AFS capability in the same way it has improved the recce role and created an attack capability.
Last one!!:
The Sound of Freedom platform beating the Tiger in the air to air engagement, NUP! Did not happen
Wrong I am afraid. Huey 1, Tiger 0. And no door guns were fitted.
Can you feel it?
And in the immortal words of Prof O'Connell when the Tiger Demo came to Townsville, captured by w-ocker above: "I'm gald we didn't waste a sticker on it!"
More beer garcon sil vous plais !
Mr Magoo, I maybe blind...but I can still see you!
