Airborne: A Guided Tour of an Airborne Task Force

Helicopters: Airpower for the Airborne

You might be surprised to find that in a parachute unit like the 82nd Airborne Division, there are a large number of helicopters assigned to provide firepower and support. These aircraft are normally flown into the division’s airhead as soon as the drop zone is fully secured. Once there, they are assembled and flown to a forward fueling and arming point (FFARP) which they operate from. This gives the division commander an organic, brigade- sized aviation unit to provide attack, reconnaissance, air assault, transport, and electronic warfare support, all of which makes the 82nd’s aviation brigade one of the crown jewels of its combat force.

As of 1996, the 82nd Aviation Brigade has been fully modernized with airframes of relatively new production. Gone are the Vietnam-era AH-1F Cobra attack helicopters, OH-58A/C Kiowa scouts, and UH-1 “Huey” utility birds. Now the brigade has brand-new OH-58D Kiowa Warrior scout/attack helicopters, as well as UH-60L versions of the proven Blackhawk utility chopper. The 82nd’s aviation brigade provides the division with badly needed firepower, scouting, and transport services. Given the “leg” mobility of the rest of the division’s fighting units, you can understand why I want to spend some time showing their aircraft to you.

Bell-Textron OH-58D Kiowa Warrior

The OH-58D Kiowa Warrior is the light attack/scout helicopter that equips the scout/attack squadron of the 82nd Airborne Division’s Aviation Brigade. The basic airframe, which first flew in 1966 as the Bell Model 206 Jet Ranger, is used in the civilian world for television traffic and news reporting, as well as business/VIP transport. In 1996 the OH-58D entered its twelfth year of production, with over 250 units converted from earlier configurations. The Army’s “procurement objective” is a total of 382, including those used in training units at Fort Rucker, Alabama, and Fort Eustis, Virginia. Maximum gross weight of this agile little helicopter is 5,500 lb/2,495 kg with a crew of two.

The crew sits side by side in a fairly tight cockpit, with the pilot on the right and observer on the left. As in most Army helicopters, the controls are duplicated, but only the pilot has a heads-up display (HUD). A single Allison T703 turboshaft engine, rated at 650 hp (485 kw), drives a four-bladed main rotor and the twin-blade tail rotor. Maximum speed is 127 kn/237 kph in a “clean” configuration, without armament. Typical cruising speed is 110 kn/204 kph. A removable armament pylon on each side of the fuselage can be fitted with a variety of weapons, depending on the mission. Against a heavy armored threat, you would carry up to four laser-guided AGM-114 Hellfire missiles (two on each side). Against an infantry or low-intensity threat, you might carry a seven-round pod of 70mm/2.75” rockets on one side and a.50-caliber machine gun pod (on the left pylon only). If the enemy has helicopters, you might even carry a two-round Stinger air-to-air missile launcher.

^{A cutaway view of the Bell Textron OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Scout/Light Attack Helicopter.}

^{JACK RYAN ENTERPRISES, LTD., BY LAURA ALPHER}

The most striking feature of the OH-58D is the McDonnell Douglas /Northrop mast-mounted sight (MMS), which looks rather like the bloated head of a long-necked, three-eyed space alien, stuck on top of the rotor hub. The MMS is an amazing piece of mechanical and electro-optical engineering. The rotor hub of a helicopter in flight is about the nastiest vibration environment you can imagine, unless you happen to live inside a washing machine. However, the TV camera, laser range finder/designator, and thermal imager inside the MMS must not only be in perfect alignment with one another, they have to be “stabilized” to maintain a rock-steady line of sight, no matter how violently the helicopter is jinking through the air. The MMS does all this and more. It is integrated with a fire-control computer and display systems that allow the crew to locate, designate, and prosecute targets at night, in fog, dust storms, smoke, or in just about any combination of abominable flying conditions you care to imagine. For night operations, the crews wear night-vision goggles. One of the less pleasant features of the aircraft is the lack of air-conditioning. In hot weather, crews often fly with the doors off. This improves the ventilation, but increases the drag and noise levels.

^{A cutaway of the AGM-114 Hellfire Anti-Tank Missile.}

^{JACK RYAN ENTERPRISES, LTD., BY LAURA ALPHER}

For the 82nd Airborne Division, the neatest thing about the OH-58D is how easily it can be packed into a cargo plane, and how quickly it can be unpacked upon arrival. The rotor disc is 35 feet/10.7 meters in diameter, but the four rotor blades can be folded to lie parallel to the fuselage. The MMS can then be removed or installed in about ten minutes with simple hand tools. AC-141 can carry up to four Kiowa Warriors, and a C-130 Hercules pair.

In the 1991 Gulf War, Army OH-58Ds, developed for special missions under the previously “black” Prime Chance program, were star performers.[27] Operating from Navy ships, they liberated the first Kuwaiti territory, shooting up the hapless Iraqi garrison of tiny Qurah Island and landing troops to round up prisoners. They knocked out numerous Iraqi patrol boats, oil platforms, and coast defense missile sites. In addition, older (and unarmed) OH-58Ds were the tip of the point of the spearhead, leading the 2nd Armored Cavalry’s advance into Iraq, providing critical real-time intelligence that helped to rout Saddam’s “elite” Revolutionary Guards. Along with providing laser designation for precision weapons like Hellfire missiles, 155mm Copperhead guided projectiles, and Air Force Paveway-series guided bombs, they performed superbly in the oldest aerial combat mission, conventional artillery spotting.

The Army hopes to eventually replace Kiowa Warrior with the Boeing /Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche, a stealthy, all-digital, high-performance, and fearsomely expensive system, with an initial operating capability optimistically scheduled for July 2006. However, given the near-cancellation of the Comanche program several years ago, and the excellent value and popularity of the Kiowa Warrior, plan on seeing the OH-58D in production for some years to come.

Sikorsky UH-60L Blackhawk

Blackhawk is the Army’s all-purpose utility helicopter, replacing the classic UH-1 “Huey.”[28] The Army lost several thousand helicopters in Vietnam, and in the process learned a great deal about how to make helicopters survivable. Every one of those lessons was incorporated into the design of the UH-60 Blackhawk, which entered service in 1978. All critical systems are armored or redundant, and the airframe is designed like a Volvo to crush on impact in a way that protects the crew and passengers. Maximum gross weight for the UH-60L is 22,000 1b/10,000 kg. It is powered by two T-701 engines, each rated at 1,940 shp. These drive a single four-bladed main rotor 53.6 ft/16.36 m in diameter and a four-bladed tail rotor. The rotor blades and tail can be folded, so that the UH-60 will fit in a variety of transport planes. About 1,400 have been delivered, and the Army is still buying about 60 of the — L models per year.

The Blackhawk’s basic mission is hauling people and stuff around the battlefield. The people ride inside: two pilots, an enlisted crew chief who doubles as door gunner when required, and up to a full squad of eleven combat- equipped troops.[29] The stuff usually dangles off a hook under the fuselage as a sling load of up to 9,000 lb/4,090 kg. This might be a Hummer, a 105mm artillery piece, a couple of fuel bladders, or a pallet of rations, ammunition, or other vital supplies. Another vital mission is “medevac,” picking up casualties and delivering them to the nearest field hospital. Knowing that medevac helicopters are only a few