Little Bird replacement

[chopper2004]

It appears for the modernising of 160th SOAR that the replacement for the A/MH-6 Little Bird will be another Little Bird for now.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/little-bird-helicopters-future-laid-out-in-new-night-stalkers-aviation-plan?fbclid=IwAR3ZduAG-MhlwFkviUPPobaGlHcmYwe5ELCUQYpm0ygOXW7WuchsXeozC-k

Cheers

[SASless]

Sometimes you just reach into your toolbox and pull out your favorite hammer when you need to drive a nail.

One passage in the linked article stood out to me.....as I bleed Chinook having flown them in 1968....with one of them currently in the US Army Museum at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Who would have guessed the old girls would still be strutting their stuff a century later?

There is no plan at the moment to develop a heavy lift FVL platform to replace the Army’s Chinooks. Conventional forces and SOCOM will be flying the tandem-rotor helicopters into the 2060s and are preparing a suite of structural and performance upgrades to keep them relevant for another 40 years. SOCOM is ahead of the Army in upgrading its MH-47G Chinooks to Block II configuration (https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/35535/night-stalker-mh-47-emerges-with-mystery-modifications-during-training-in-colorado), with redesigned fuel tanks, stiffer airframe, and improved drivetrain. That work will carry SOCOM out to 2029, at which point plans are to introduce Block “X” upgrades, according to Downer.

[KiwiNedNZ]

They have been talking about replacing the Little Bird for long long time - and nothing ever happens.

[chopper2004]

Out of this SOF Week in Tampa, is the knock on effect from FARA cancellation that an A/MH-6 Little Bird replacement is not going to happen.

https://www.defensenews.com/smr/sofic/2024/05/08/little-bird-helicopter-replacement-in-question-after-army-cancels-fara/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fb_dfn&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2hy-sbWxrnrb0vrpWOtpvDieNAEEzfICPIL1xqPvd68XLdUekmZE7JbDU_aem_Af rGEnqW-cIommmaA6Ercig3V75NYc-8KsOfcgnEH8svbG7dohBSAGhiNy6cGeMvOG6LcFNTRI-gi3MsImoJRbyS

cheers

[Tickle]

Quite a tough and agile machine. What other type do we think might make a good modern basis to be modified to replace it?

[Rob_L]

Quite a tough and agile machine. What other type do we think might make a good modern basis to be modified to replace it?

From an earlier time but the book Low Level Hell by Hugh Mills is worth a read.
I came away amazed that any of the pilots or aircraft survived.

[Tickle]

From an earlier time but the book Low Level Hell by Hugh Mills is worth a read.
I came away amazed that any of the pilots or aircraft survived.


I have it - sits proudly on my shelf alongside Chickenhawk, Howard's Whirlybirds, Flak and Firebirds. Interestingly, the Low Level Hell book has just a black spine with no text or anything on it. Is your copy the same?

[Rob_L]

I have it - sits proudly on my shelf alongside Chickenhawk, Howard's Whirlybirds, Flak and Firebirds. Interestingly, the Low Level Hell book has just a black spine with no text or anything on it. Is your copy the same?

No, it has title, authors and publisher. It also has a small image representing Outcasts badge. Shown on the cover of the book.. A skull and crossbones with the word Outcasts above and the words Aero Scouts and Low Level Hell below.

[rudestuff]

Quite a tough and agile machine. What other type do we think might make a good modern basis to be modified to replace it?
Can you improve on perfection? I think they got it right first time. If you want no doors and guys sat outside on benches you aren't going to go much faster than 80 kts

It seems to me the 500 platform is unbeatable for getting into alleyways etc - once it gets there. They just need something that can 'keep up' with the bigger faster helos while getting to where the oil is where the bad guys are.

How about a smaller 109/119 type - single engine with retracts. A 109 cruises at the 500s Vne. You can keep the guys with beards and shades inside until you need them on the outside. When you get closer to the oil where the bad guys are - you open the doors, deploy spring loaded benches and they climb out, ready to 'operate' some freedom into whichever bad guys have the oil been naughty.

[Blackhawk9]

Quite a tough and agile machine. What other type do we think might make a good modern basis to be modified to replace it?
Bell have been working on the B429M for awhile now , lots of fitout and kits available for spec ops . Jamaica, Slovac Police, Turkish Security directorate all use kitted out 429's and the ADF was going to get 15 for the little bird type role before it was decided to dump the MRH and go with BH.