Hi again Lonewolf 50; re your post #92 and hoping not to drift too much off good airlift discussion this thread.
Somewhere in these forums was mentioned a fully-equipped ADF soldier weighs 300 pounds! Ridiculous of course because they would not be able to run and/or fight efficiently and soon become cripples. However, it would be of interest to know just what figures are actually used these days for airlift planning purposes in both fixed and rotary wing realms.
During Vietnam War ops, a fully-equipped RAAF Hotel model Iroquois manned by 4 crew and with full fuel carried 7 troops; although when working with NZ forces, fuel was usually reduced by about 200 pounds because Maori warriors are generally big heavy men who mostly draped themselves in belted ammunition.
Just to finalise your Huey II capabilities queries. Lots of enhancement options which would trim payload a bit, but H2 has the internal lift capacity for 10 troops (a notional infantry squad/section) with reconfigured simple clip-in fabric seating. A bit crowded which is probably why the UH-1Y cabin has been stretched around 530mm.
The H2 cargo hook capacity is 5,000 pounds and maximum operating gross weight increases by 700 pounds for external loading which translates to lift potential of around 3,000 pounds on the hook, more if fuel loading and/or 4 man crewing is reduced. Less than the Blackhawk of course but still pretty useful.
Re aircraft crash-worthiness features. I do not take a bean-counter view of war-fighting, but rather having adequate resources and capabilities to get the job done. Having more of employable lower cost assets assures sustainment of operations compared with lesser numbers of very expensive kit. Risk is inherent in military operations and overly-expensive cocooning against harm is arguably somewhat impractical. If I were a theatre commander, I would be quite satisfied with a bunch of very modest cost Huey II and enhanced M113 APCs for example, although they might not have the expensive inbuilt protection features of contemporary costly vehicles.
There are differing qualities between UH-60M and Huey II, but obviously much commonality in roles performable. If accepting that some casualties are inevitable in military operations, Huey II at $2million is clearly more cost-effective than UH-60M at maybe $20million.
Last edited by Bushranger 71; 30th Mar 2011 at 00:24.