What would a Helicopter designed primarily to fight other Helicopters look like?
 

As far as I know, Helo vs Helo combat is pretty rare, and Helos are pretty much all designed for air-to-ground (or sea) operations of various sorts. Some Helos can carry anti-air missiles (Cobra can carry a sidewinder for example?).

What do you think a Helicopter would look like if it were designed primarily to kill other Helicopters? What sort of weapons would it employ? What sorts or rotor system would it use?

With some upgrades to the Radar System and adding Sidewinders or perhaps a radar guided Missile.....the AH-64 would do a fine job probably.

Helicopter versus helicopter
 

It would "look like" (literally) a common non-fighting helicopter...that's not to say it would be made like same. Without the advantage of deception, why not pose the question something like: "What would be the best VTOL aircraft primarily designed to fight helicopters?" (Which could be a helicopter or something else.)

USAF F-15's did a great job against US Army Blackhawks.....unfortunately!

What would a helicopter designed to fight other helicopters look like? Probably something like this:


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....5bfdaef578.jpg


PDR

Maybe something like the Russian Ka-52 ALLIGATOR? Relatively high speed and maneuverability, comprehensive sensor suite and a second pair of eyes who can do the systems operation whilst the pilot is dealing with the low level environment. Added to that, a decent weapons fit with 30mm cannon, ATGM and an AA-11 fit mean it could probably engage most other helos at range, with the Vikhr laser guided ATGM having a pretty good anti-jam capability.

British helicopter pilots in Cold War Germany (myself included) were rather worried about the Hind and the Frogfoot.
In the Falklands war crews were rather worried about meeting up with the Pucara, especially if there were two.
I agree about the KA-52, or anything else with armament; all I had easily to hand was my 9mm pistol.....

There are movies from Syria on youtube etc. where you can seen how engagements helo vs. manpads end. Looks like the game has changed.
Remember the US did not use many combat helicopters over the Balkans back then. Must have been for a reason. Probably something like an A-10 would be their biggest flying adversary.

Start with a modernised AH-56.....

The Comanche would have been a good choice.

All you need is a the good old Huey. :p

https://www.cia.gov/library/center-f...bat-first.html

Well, maybe not.

If it's going to be a helicopter (e.g. vertical takeoff/landing), it's going to look pretty much like any other helicopter. There are good reasons why most helicopters look similar (unless you go with something like the Chinook style twin-rotor or an Osprey style tilt-rotor design). I suspect the details would make it look similar to a dedicated gunship.
BTW PDR - what would make the interceptor in your drawing a 'helicopter' - I don't even see anything that would give it STOL capability, never mind vertical...

The S-67 Blackhawk would be a very good anti-helicopter helicopter.

Perhaps we can get Brother Dixson to extol its virtues for us.



https://gallery.vtol.org/image/PZHX

We used to carry out "fighter evasion" training against Harriers and other jets. Much of the time we had to direct the pilot onto us, rather than evade him (possibly why they later renamed the exercise fighter "affiliation"). A faster, jet aircraft isn't necessarily the most effective against a helicopter. Most jet pilots I spoke to said that if we had offensive weapons they wouldn't even try to take on a well flown helicopter.

I do recall a German CH-53 being bought down accidentally by a fixed wing fast pass over the top .

Indeed, Haraka. Fast and low over the top of the wretched things was something we were advised. Preferably supersonic.

As for The answer to that is blindingly obvious - as hideously ugly as any other helicopter!

"Fast and low over the top of the wretched things was something we were advised.." - Easy to say, very difficult to effect if the helo crew has even a half decent SA/lookout/RWR (and assuming you can even see the helo visually or on radar….). But, please, feel free to try to fly straight at my M134 and see what 3000rpm looks like coming back at you as a non-manoeuvring target….

ShyTorque - last time I taught it, "affil" was titled "Evasion Training - Helo v Fighter" - ET (HvF) or ET (HvH) if having a knife fight in a phone box with another helo. Little has changed - you still spend most of the sortie calling on the jet. Spent a very frustrating instructional trip against a pair of Typhoons trying to make myself as obvious as I could and still called them on 9 times out of 10…..Of all the many jets I played with, the Harrier/Alfa Jet were the hardest non-radar opponents and a well-flown pair of OEU F3s were probably the hardest AI-jet to counter (especially once they got ASRAAM….). Would have loved to have fought the A10 though…….

Orca,
Indeed - but how I laughed when a F3 OEU crew put a slammer into the Kings Cross express…...

Were they just a particularly good pair of fighter crews or did they get to play by different rules/experiment because they were OEU?

As a long time Helicopter pilot....I would NEVER want to be confronted by an A-10 seeking to kill me.....as the odds would be very much in the A-10's favor I would think.

Now if I were in a MD-500 and there was a Coal Mine to hide inside.....perhaps.

I seem to recall reports of A-10s taking out Iraqi helos using their cannon during the Gulf War (not sure which one). In fact, if the mission was to take out helicopters via air-to-air, I'd be hard pressed to come up with a better platform than the A-10 - with the advantage of being able to (relatively quickly) get the hell out of Dodge if the odds turned against..
But the A-10 is not a helo...

All that's needed is a false drone sighting report. Everyone then gets grounded.

KA-52 Le Bourget 2013
 

Designing a helicopter to fight a helicopter surely puts you under similar constraints and limitations?
Anybody else know the story from the mid 60's of the Wessex being brought down by a bow and arrow in the Far East.?
Apparently an arrow was fired through the tail rotor disc whilst in a low hover.,The arrow being attached to a length of steel wire .
I heard this story out of Westlands at the time , with other concerns then being of the development of anti - helicopter AAMs homing in on radar doppler returns from the main rotor disc.

Given enough tree-cover and terrain, plus a good knowledge of your deployment area you could probably evade a singleton to the point he got bored and poked-off, but a pair of slow jets intent on taking you out might be a different proposition. Or an A-10 who would cheerfully follow you down fire-breaks in forestry blocks...

Kaman UH-2C carrying AIM-7
 

I know that arrows have been shot with fishing line attached to them (Between the twin towers to facilitate the rigging of a full size cable for the "Man on a wire" spectacle) but I find it hard to believe that an arrow could carry a steel wire thick enough to stop a tail rotor assembly.

Winds the whole length of wire between stationary and rotating parts of the tail rotor hub? (Like a length of blue plastic baler twine picked up by a rotary lawnmower.)

Considering the formula/rules of the made-for-entertainment contest between Battlebots: They joust and saw and crash and flip and hammer and shoot fire and push eachother into grinding hazards. (Maybe more...only watched a couple episodes a few years back.) Entanglement is not allowed.

There's a lot of mechanism to snag and jam in the rotor hubs of that KA-52. (Thanks for great photos.)