Wildcat
 

Has the first aircraft been delivered to the Army yet? I believe they were due to receive it this month and with all the doom and gloom it would surely be a small good news story before Christmas.

Its a bit late... The first aircraft was delivered to the USN in 1940, and the RN shortly after! :cool:

RTS1 for Army Wildcat 9 Mar 12; first 3 AH scheduled for delivery Apr '12.

Surely that a will be Wildcat RH1

I believe the AH in all Army aircraft stands for Army Helicopter.

h

Does that mean it will be Wildcat AH2?

Nope, Wildcat AH1, first version. I think only the Lynx has moved on in Mk numbers for the Army, with the Mk 7, Mk 9 and Mk 9A. Gazelle was AH 1, even after 30 odd years in service and the Apache is still AH 1 even after the MTADS upgrade. I'm not sure what constitutes an upgrade from Mk 1 to Mk 2 and so on. Anyone, Bueller, Bueller.......?

Likely now to Wildcat Mk2 HMA.

shouldn't it be AH10 or 11 carried on from the Lynx? After all, its really just a Super Lynx

Even the historic flight Alouette 2 is known as the Alouette AH1.:rolleyes:

It's only Super when compared to the Lynx ;)

PTT,

You clearly have had nothing to do with or know about Lynx AH Mk9A!

WILDCAT will have to be very good to keep up (Apart from the cracking tail and !!!! Oleos!)

The fact that it doesnt come with a .50 or DNVG (the age old....fitted for but not with!) means it will have a catch up game to play as soon as it enters service.

Ralph

Wildcat does come with M3M for HMA and will come with clearance for it for AH.

Nothing like a good bite within one post! It's not like the bait was clearly marked or anything :ok:

Aren't 847 Sqn, RN, scheduled to be the 1st to get Wildcat?

Will 847 Sqn RNAS operate Wildcat AH or Wildcat with some other suffix?

Will whatever they call it still require a hand to TQ match the engines when moving the collective?

Yep, 847 Sqn NAS will be the first squadron to convert to Army Wildcat......Own goal. Not to mention all Wildcat (Navy and Army) will be painted two tone grey. Own goal #2.......and all based at RNAS Yeovilton


At least the AAC will be taken over by the FAA and not the crabs. Cant be all bad then :ok:

Nice, bait laid, let's see who bites. :E

As ex-AAC I can clearly see the benefit of having the Corps run by a better leadership than it's had in the past and seems to have at present!

The stopper might be the very odd notion that only officers can 'fly' the aircraft?

Art, just a thought, but are all military doctors and dentists and padres officers? If yes, what's the theory behind it?

You ask a simple question..........

For information, the Super Lynx is not all that Super. Unintegrated avionics, average radar and FLIR, very limited lifting capacity etc however the engines are superb if a little thirsty at times.

Wildcat should greatly improve and enhance SA whilst offering similar performance to a Super Lynx/9A. It is not designed as a large or even medium troop carrier so no point complaining about that.

Anyway a bad workman always blames his tools......

Standing back!

It would certainly be in the best interest of the AAC pilots who are enlisted filth if the were to be subsumed into either a light or dark blue uniform as with the required commission comes the removal of the PA cap :ok:

But the real question is why are we looking at axing the Puma 2 and giving the Merlin to the Navy. Wouldn't it be better to consider getting rid of something less capabale eg wildcat and keeping the Puma, then if we really must give the Navy the 101. Makes common sense to me.

presumably the Wildcat can be armed up like he Lynx and used as a gunship / attack / antitank platform? Something the CHF pretty much lost - except for the 847 Lynx - from their main SH fleet with the scrapping of the Wessex 5
Can't see the Puma doing that. Or any thing else short term except the Apache

So Wildcat = Lynx Mk?? :ugh:

Wildcat..
 

I understand a former boss of a v famous Jaguar Sqn and a Kiwi Jag/Typhoon pilot are involved with these guys

Aerobatic Display Team | Wildcat Aerobatics

Wildcat should be Lynx AH-10 unless you thow in complications for the oddball prototypes like the Lynx3 with the WG30 tail....

We have this upgrade for Gazelle AH Mk1, but its not really a Gazelle anymore, its an EC135, shall we call it Gazelle AH Mk2?

......Or it should be - AW159 Wildcat?

ramp up wrote:
"But the real question is why are we looking at axing the Puma 2 and giving the Merlin to the Navy"
and:
"Wouldn't it be better to consider getting rid of something less capabale eg wildcat and keeping the Puma"
1) This thread is about the Wildcat, not the Seaking/Puma/Merlin/Chinook or who operates them.
2) I presume that you are referring to the Army version of the Wildcat, if not have a look at the role of the Grey Lynx and see let me know how much of that role could be done by a Puma.
3) The role of Army Wildcat is not the same as Puma. Having a mixture of helicopter sizes and fits for different roles really is essential. Would you want to do convoy overwatch, battlefield recce or amphib ops in a Puma?
I'm not trying to get rid of Puma, I like the idea of Puma 2 and I have friends who fly it.

'ere, Ralphmalph, I could've understood if you'd said EC120, but don't go chucking chicken-leg aspersions at the 135. It would've stayed as the Bo108 if the Frogs hadn't stuck that monstrously-heavy rear-end onto it.

As for the Lynx (memories of having to take a Mk1 with half-fuel down to a 1'-hover just to spot-turn left), I only hope it doesn't do permanent damage to Anglo-Omani relations. Updating that example of Wastelands design is a bit like gilding a tvrd, IMHO.

ramp_upWould I be correct in thinking your reply is based on securing your own job in the back of SH as opposed to considering what is best for MoD? Wildcat will be very capable (once we've got funding to stick all the right bits back on it after they were costed out....). Puma 2= Job security and has very little to do with 'enhancing capability'. Let me know if Puma 2 could carry out recce with Apache or act as HMA off the back of a boat (without falling over).

So the Wildcat we are buying is not capable :confused:

I didn't say that. They will be capable on entry as opposed to very capable once all the stuff is stuck back on it :ok:

So it wont be as capable as it should be when it enters service and it will only be as capable as it should be if we spend more money on it :confused:

I'm trying not to bite but......

"So it wont be as capable as it should be when it enters service and it will only be as capable as it should be if we spend more money on it "

Should maybe read could. Bit like every other piece of equipment purchased by the MOD. How many things are stil in their original state with no upgrade/enhancement/improvement?

I think your title says it all.............Seldomfitforpurpose

So the Wildcat you guys are getting will be seldom fit for purpose, as in will need money spending on it to get it up to spec :eek:

Like Typhoon did, like Tornado did, like Merlin did, like SA80 did and like every other piece of MoD procured kit did, yes.

You seem surprised? Not been in the mob long or do you just not take an interest in anything outside your little world?

The clue is in the terminology.......Initial Operating Capability and Final Operating Capability.

Oh dear. Is that the best prognosis AW/WH has to offer the MoD and the taxpayer for their £1.65bn investment. And this figure without training and through life support costs.

Unlike the completely 'new-design' equipment you mentioned above, Wildcat is the product of 35-years of Lynx in-service experience, so how utterly depressing your comment, especially in an era when every single penny the MoD has to spend on equipment will count.

I note in the NAO Major Projects Report 2011, that 50% of Wildcat KPM’s are listed as ‘to be met, with risk’ and these include training and through life support, so let us hope Wildcat isn’t going to be a re-run of the Apache crew training fiasco.

Let’s be honest, the Royal Navy are pleased with their SCMR solution, but for the AAC, it was a case of ‘Hobson’s choice’. :(