Summary
Rotorcraft: armament
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Extract
Weapons for whirlybirds.
The development of turbine-engined helicopters in the 1950s brought substantial increases in disposable load, allowing the addition of ground attack weapons, notably machine guns, cannon, rocket projectiles and anti-tank guided weapons. By the 1980s helicopters were also proving their value in the anti-ship role, and there was growing interest in air-to-air missiles, at least for self-defence. Operations over Kosovo in 1999 included the use of gun-armed helicopters to intercept reconnaissance drones.
Although experiments with arming helicopters were carried out during the Korean War (1951 to 1953), operational service began with the introduction of the French Army's turbine-powered Sud-Ouest Alouette II in Algeria in 1958. Dubbed > (the horned butterfly), the Alouette II was armed with rifle-calibre machine guns, and later rocket projectiles and SS-10/11 guided missiles. It was employed as an escort in airborne assault and casualty evacuation missions. Barrels The objective in arming US Army helicopters in Vietnam in the early 1960s was likewise to provide fire suppression around landing zones, a need in this case brought on by the undependability of South Vietnamese a...See the full content of this document
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