Boeing AH-64 Apache

The Boeing AH-64 Apache is a tandem two-seat attack helicopter. Is designed by Hughes, sold to McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Company in January 1984, and now in production by Boeing after the take over of McDonnell Douglas in August 1997.

The Apache is specially designed to operate at night, the two censors located on the nose make this possible. The basic principle that makes vision at night reality, is called FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red). All objects have a certain temperature, by measuring differences in that temperature a video-image can be produced that can be produced that can be used for both flying and target acquisition/designation.

The pilot uses the so-called Pilot Night Vision Sensor (PNVS) located on the top of the nose, this device produces the FLIR-imagery used for flying. The co-pilot/gunner primarily uses the Target Acquisition and Designation System (TADS) to find and engage targets, the TADS can also be used as a backup vision-device for flying.

The AH-64 Apache’s  PIC (Pilot In Command) in the back-seat and pilot/gunner in the front seat, are players in a real-life, hi-tech video game. Able to operate in any weather, Apache gunners can acquire multiple targets and ripple-fire their full range of weapons. A pair of Apaches could rip through a convoy in minutes. The AH-64A was essentially an analogue aircraft on a digital battle field. The AH-64″D” model is a further development, which is a fully digitized (four dual-channel MIL-STD 1553B data-busses) platform and some of them have the mushroom-shaped radar, only they have the name Apache Longbow. 

The Longbow Fire Control Radar with its distinctive mast-mounted antenna is a 35 GHz radar system for the detection, location, classification and prioritization of tactical targets. 

The Boeing AH-64D is armed with the Lockheed Martin/Boeing AGM-114D Longbow Hellfire air-to-surface missile which has a millimeter wave seeker which allows the missile to perform in full fire and forget mode. Range is 8km to 12km. 

The first of the upgraded Block II Apaches was delivered to the US Army in February 2003. Block II includes upgrades to the digital communications systems to improve communications within the “tactical internet”. Block III improvements, slated for 2008 on, include increasing digitization, capability to control UAV’s and new composite rotor blade. 

Westland WAH-64 Apache Longbow 

59 Westland WAH-64 Apache Longbow are built under license in the UK by GKN-Westland Helicopters Limited at Yeovilton. The first 8 WAH-64 were built by Boeing at Mesa Arizona. Ministry of Defense UK specified a number of different equipments to be incorporated on WAH-64. These included: 

-          Rolls Royce Turbomeca RTM322 engines.

-          A state of the art Helicopter Integrated Defensive Aids Suite (HIDAS).

-          A deicing system for rotor blade operation in cold weather.

-          CRV7 2.75 inch rockets made by Bristol Aerospace of Canada.

-          Folding blades, to facilitate operations from ships.

-          A Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS). HUMS will record accurately WAH-64 flight data (such as engine temperatures and rotor torque) to make maintenance easy.

-          SATURN (a new NATO UHF secure radio) and BOWMAN (British Army combat radio)

-          Air-to-air missile for self protection.

All British Apaches have standard the Longbow Radar.

 

 

*12 AH-64A Apache Netherlands leased from the US Army from November 13, 1996 till February 19, 2001 for US $1 each.

** 6 AH-64D are at Forth Hood, TX USA for training and live shooting, and from January 2004 there are 6 AH-64D’s for sale.

 

AH-64 Apache in combat:

Operation Just Cause December 19th 1989:

US Army Apache helicopters played a key role in the 1989 action in Panama, where much of the activity was at night, when the AH-64A’s advanced sensors and sighting systems were effective against anti-government forces.  

Desert Storm 17 January – 28 February 1991:

Apaches destroyed vital early warning radar sites, in the first hours of operation Desert Storm, AH-64A’s were credited with destroying more then 500 battle tanks, 10 helicopters, 10 airplanes plus hundreds of additional armored personnel carriers, trucks and other vehicles. One Apache was lost in combat during Desert Storm.

Israel: October 24,1991 -

Since October 24, 1991 Israeli Apaches are in combat, the first raid was in Lebanon, against Hezbolla and the Palestine people.

Deliberate Force: Aug.- Sept. 1994:

AH-64 Apaches also have helped keep the peace in Bosnia and have been called into service in Kosovo by the US Army and the Royal Netherlands Air Force.

Allied Force: 24 March – 10 June 1999:

Two AH-64A’s were crashed during night training missions in Albania for Allied Force operations, two crew-members killed.

Djibouti: February – June 2001:

Dutch AH-64D were the first Delta’s deployed to a war zone, stationed in Djibouti, for an UN peace-keeping force (UNMEE) at the border of Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Enduring Freedom 7 October 2001 – :

Three US Army Apaches were crashed and written-off in Afghanistan.

Six Royal Netherlands Air Force AH-64D Apaches are deployed to Kabul from April 1st, 2004 -. In their first week, they were attacked by ground fire, no casualties.

On Sunday August 29, 2004 crashed one AH-64D Apache (reg. Q-20) of the RNLAF with technical problems, the helicopter is written-off, one pilot had light injuries.

Iraqi Freedom 20 March 2003 – :

On March 24, during the war, an AH-64 Apache crashed in a hail of small-arms fire during an assault on Republican Guard forces south of Baghdad. The Apache’s two pilots were held prisoner before being rescued April 13th, 2003.

On June 12th, 2003 an Apache belonging to the Army’s 101st Airborne Division was shot down near the town of Duluiyah, north of Baghdad. Both crew members were rescued.

On January 13th, 2004 an Apache was shot down near the western Iraqi town of Habbaniyah. This was the second of the heavily armed gun-ships downed by guerrilla fire since President Bush declared an end to major combat May 1st, 2003.

Easter Sunday April 11th, 2004  an AH-64 Apache helicopter was downed by ground fire in the morning, during fighting in western Baghdad, killing its two crew members.

A total of 8 Apaches are written-off in Iraq, and 5 are heavily damaged. More than 53 Apaches are damaged, and must be repaired to operational standard.

Boeing/Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche

The Boeing Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche armed reconnaissance helicopter was the centerpiece of the U.S. Army’s aviation modernization plan. This reflects the Army’s overall transition to an Objective Force that will utilize advanced weapon systems and smaller forces that are responsive, deployable, agile, versatile, lethal, survivable and sustainable.

The Comanche is a twin-turbine, two-seat (tandem) armed reconnaissance helicopter with projected missions of armed reconnaissance, light attack and air combat.

The Comanche program validated a number of aircraft systems and components and built and flew two flight-test prototype aircraft in its Demonstration/Validation/Prototype phase from contract award in 1991 through 2000. The program launched a $3.1 billion Engineering and Manufacturing Development phase in mid-2000. During EMD, the program will continue flight tests and validation of the Comanche’s fully integrated navigation, communication and passive-sensor targeting system, known as the Mission Equipment Package.  The Pentagon wanted 650 RAH-66s for U.S. Army service, only two prototypes are build (94-0327 and 95-0001) for test-flights.

The Comanche is the world’s most advanced rotorcraft, featuring an all-composite, low-observable airframe that evades detection by radar, infrared and acoustic sensors. Its dynamic system includes a five-bladed bearing less main rotor, split-torque main transmission and an enclosed tail rotor system. Flight controls are fly-by-wire and triply redundant. All aircraft systems are integrated in the Mission Equipment Package that contains a digital avionics suite with advanced programmable communications; an integrated helmet-mounted heads-up display; a night-vision pilotage system and an electro-optical target acquisition and detection system that utilize advanced, passive, long-range, high-resolution sensors to generate real-time broad-band information to battlefield commanders about enemy dispositions; self-healing digital mission electronics; and triply redundant on-board system diagnostics. The aircraft can utilize high-speed and aerobatic maneuverability to avoid detection and engagement, and carries both missile armament in retractable bays and a retractable Gatling gun slaved to the helmet display. The Comanche is designed for easy field maintenance and repair and eliminates intermediate maintenance requirements.
 

The end of the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter program

 In a dramatic about-face, the US Army canceled its Comanche helicopter program Monday February 23rd, 2004 after sinking $6.9 billion and 21 years of effort into producing a new-generation chopper.

At a Pentagon news conference, senior Army leaders said they would propose to Congress that $14.6 billion earmarked to develop and build 121 Comanches between now and 2011 be used instead to buy 796 additional Black Hawk and other helicopters and to upgrade and modernize 1,400 helicopters already in the fleet.  An Army study determined a need for 368 new armed scout helicopters.

“It’s a big decision, but we know it’s the right decision,” said Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff. He said the Army also will invest more heavily in a variety of unmanned aircraft, such as the existing Hunter and the new Raven.

The RAH-66 Comanche helicopter project was launched in 1983 and was eventually to have cost more than $39 billion. The Army said it needed a stealthier, more capable armed reconnaissance helicopter not only to collect and distribute battlefield intelligence but to destroy enemy forces.

The program met with many setbacks and was restructured six times, most recently in 2002. The latest timetable had specified beginning initial low-rate production in 2007, with the first Comanches to have been declared ready for combat in 2009 with full-rate production to have begun in 2010.

The per-unit cost of the scrapped helicopter has more than quadrupled, from $12.1 million per aircraft when the Army planned to buy 5,023 of them, to $58.9 million when the purchase was cut back to 650.

From the first days of the Bush administration there has been talk of canceling a number of major aviation projects, including the Marine Corps’ V-22 Osprey hybrid helicopter-airplane and the Air Force’s F/A-22 Raptor fighter jet, but so far the Comanche has been the only casualty.

Five Comanche helicopters are in production. Sikorsky officials said they did not know what would become of them.

The Sikorsky plant in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where the Comanche is being built, opened in 2003 and employs about 400 workers.

Boeing B-29

The B-29 was the first effective long distance bomber in the world en was designed from 1940 as model 345 to fill the need of  the US Army Air Core’s plan for a ‘hemisphere defense’ bomber.

The design was extremely advanced with a pressurized cabin, remote controlled defense weapons, an enormous offensive bomb load and very high performance under witch a very high service ceiling.

 

The first of three prototypes flew in September 1942 with four Wright R-3550 ’star-engines’ each equipped with a turbo charger. In the same time Boeing had contracts for more than 1500 production bombers.

 

The XB-29’s were followed by 14 YB-29 pre-production airframes, the first of these 14 flew in June 1943.

 

A huge effort was made to get the super fortresses in use, and a very extended network of subcontractors supplied parts to four assembly-plants. The type became operational in time to be used in the second world war, and play a very important roll in the campaigns against Japan witch ended in August 1945 with the drop of two atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

 

Approx 2848 B-29’s were completed with 1122 B-29A’s that had a slightly lager wing-span and modernized defensive weaponry and 311 B-29B’s without defensive weapons, but with a radar guided tail barbette. Later this type was redesigned for recon an experimental tasks and was later refitted with a heavier construction and Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engines as the B-29D witch came in production as the B-50A.

 

 

Boeing B-29A Super fortress
Developing Nation:	United States
First Flight(s):	September 1942
Crew:	10
Wing Span:	43,05 m
Wing:	161,56 M2
Length:	30,18 m
Weight empty:	32.369 kg.
Weight Max. Load:	62.823 kg.
Engine (s):	four 1640 kW Wright R-3350-23 Cyclone Eighteen ’star engines’ air cooled.
Max. Speed:	576 Kph. at sea-level
Max. Height:	9708 m.
Max. Range:	6598 km.
Weapons:	- one 20 mm. canon - twelve 12,7 mm machineguns - Max. 9072 kg. bombs.

 

 

Bell P-39 Airacobra

The Bell P-39 was an unusual fighter at the time, the engine was placed in the center of the aircraft for a good weight-ratio. This was not unique but at the least unusual. 

The P-39 Airacobra had a tricycle landing gear, which was the first such gear ever used on a production fighter. The Airacobra battled throughout the world, particularly in the Southwest Pacific, Mediterranean and Russian theaters. Because its engine was not equipped with a supercharger, the P-39 performed best below 17,000 feet (5,200 m) altitude.

 

The P-39 often was used at lower altitudes for such missions as ground strafing. Same with the P-63 Kingcobra, the P-39 aircraft was considered to be the most victorious mass-produced, fixed-wing aircraft manufactured by Bell Aircraft Corporation. Primarily used by the U.S Army Air Force

 

- The prototype XP-39 flew for the first time on April 6th 1938 powered by an Allison V-1710-17 12 Cylinder liquid-cooled engine providing 1150 Hp.

- The next step was the YP-39 of which 13 were produced for service evaluation. The YP-39 was mounted with an 37 mm M4 Cannon, two fuselage mounted 12,7 mm guns and two wing-mounted 7,62 mm guns.

- The initial production model (P-39C) was similar to the YP-39 and 20 were built.

- Adding self sealing fuel-tanks and two additional 7,62 mm machine guns in the wings resulted in the P-39D witch entered service to the USAAC in February 1941.

- The P-39-1 replaced the 37 mm M4 cannon with a 20 mm M1 cannon.

- After that the P-39D-2 replaced the 1150 Hp V-1710-35 with a 1325 Hp V-1710-63 engine.

- There were three examples built with laminar-flow wings (XP-39E)

- The P-39F was basically a P-39D with minor upgrades.

- Only 25 Airacobra’s were built with a 1100 Hp engine (V-1710-59 by Allison) designated P-39J.

- P-39K: was also basically a P-39D-2 but with a different propeller

- P-39L: Also a P-39D-2 only with a different nose-wheel

- In November 1942 the first P-39M began to appear, it had a 1200 Hp V-1710-83 engine.

- P-39N: This was the first Airacobra built in large numbers, it had a 1200 Hp V-1710-85 engine, and 2095 were built.

- The final subtype of the P-39, the P-39Q had the wing-mounted 7,62 mm machine guns deleted, and a 12,7 mm gun mounted beneath each mainplane. The P-39Q was built in the largest numbers, at total of 4905 P-39Q’s left the factories.

 

Totally a number of 9558 P-39 of all types were produced.

 

 

Type	Number built/ converted	Remarks
XP-39	1	Prototype P-39
YP-39	13	Improved XP-39; service test aircraft
YP-39A	1 (cv)	YP-39 with new engine; high alt. test only
XP-39B	1 (cv)	XP-39 with new engine; no turbo-supercharger
P-39C	80	P-45 redesignated; 60 became P-39D
P-39D	60 (cv)	Improved P-39C; 4x.30, 2x.50 mgs. and 37mm cn.
P-39D-1	863	Improved P-39D; self-sealing fuel tanks
P-39D-2	1 (cv)	Improved P-39D-1; 158 ordered
XP-39E	3	P-39D-1 with new engine; XP-63 prototype
P-39E	0	Improved P-39D-1; 4,000 ordered
P-39F-1	229	P-39D with aero products propeller
P-39F-2	2 (cv)	P-39F modified for photo reconnaissance
P-39G	0	1,800 ordered, became K, L, M, N models
P-39H	0	Designation not assigned
P-39J	25	Modified P-39D-1; new engine and auto boost
P-39K	210	P-39F with new engine
P-39L	250	Modified P-39K; Curtiss prop. and rocket rails
P-39M	240	Modified P-39L; new engine and prop. gearing chg.
P-39N	2,095	Improved P-39M; new engine
P-39P	0	Designation not assigned
P-39Q	4,905	Improved P-39N; 37mm cn. and four .50-cal. mgs.