Hi Trojan 1981; re your post #95.
Sorry; but I have to disagree with you re supposed helicopter vulnerability/survivability in combat. This bit from a comprehensive US Army study of Vietnam operations:
‘Statistics on relative vulnerability (of helicopters) reveal that out of 1,147 sorties, one aircraft would be hit by enemy fire, one aircraft was shot down per 13,461 sorties, and only one aircraft was shot down and lost per 21,194 sorties. Used properly, the helicopter was not the fragile target some doom-forecasters had predicted.’
9SQN RAAF flew 237,806 sorties for 58,768 hours during 5.5 years (2,000 days) of Vietnam War operations. Only 1 aircraft was directly lost to ground-fire and 3 aircraft were forced to land. 23 overall received mostly minor battle damage. These were lower probabilities than for the US Army with operating practices significant. There have of course been a few losses to MANPADS in Afghanistan but risk from 7.62mm and 12.7mm weaponry would be no greater and arguably less intense than during Vietnam operations. The apparent apprehension among some operators regarding risk of ground-fire in Afghanistan is a bit puzzling although there are doubtless political overtones due to the worldwide unpopularity of involvement.
The Huey II is not dated; it is a virtually as new factory upgraded light weight battlefield support platform with lots of certified enhancement options, long supportability envisaged due to commonality of components with civil versions and orders approaching 200. If Chinook, Blackhawk, Kiowa all have parallel upgrade programs, how can a Huey be considered obsolescent? It betters the Blackhawk in some respects like cabin layout, weight, technical simplicity, operating costs and probably hot and high performance, although latter data for UH-60L or M not known.
A 'new' Huey II costs $2million and a Blackhawk UH-60M upgrade about $14million (2008 dollars). Assuming the dismal decision to waste 20 plus Hotel model Iroquois for historical purposes will not be rescinded, it would seem more cost-effective to buy maybe 50 or more Huey II from Bell Helicopter than put ADF Blackhawks, which are about 4 times as expensive to operate, through an upgrade program. If no action in this direction, then crucial battlefield utility helo capability will be forfeited as the MRH90 will clearly be quite unsuited for that function.
A good CAS platform for the ADF would be one with long loiter time, precision guided weapons and real-time datalink capability. An aircraft that can remain clear of most gound fire and also provide battlefield surveillance and comms relay, in addition to targeting; essential for effective networked operations.
Why not an AC-130 capability? An invaluable asset in all theatres from Vietnam onwards and likely to remain in the USAF inventory for some time - the US Marine Corps is also adapting some of their C-130. Converting some RAAF C-130H for special operations roles and acquiring more C-130J would really enhance flexibility and versatility for regional operations. Apart from money of course, the problem is AC-130 may be a bit too warlike for our politicians, many of whom now seem to see the ADF becoming a virtual 'peace corps'.
Last edited by Bushranger 71; 22nd Oct 2010 at 17:16.