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Meanwhile, some Army officials were concerned that the USAF did not take the close air support (CAS) mission as seriously as it ought to be, and that response times of 30 minutes or more for fixed-wing aircraft would be unacceptable. The United States Air Force (USAF) largely held the opinion that most forms of US military aircraft should be operated only by their service, and that the US Army would be intruding into their domain by developing a complex armed aerial combatant, and ought to be largely restricted to transport aircraft. While some officials within the Pentagon, particularly those within the US Army, had recognised the potential value of purpose-built armed rotary aircraft as early as 1962 and were keen to see such a vehicle developed promptly, the issue was complicated in part due to inter-service politics. However, these makeshift gunships came with considerable tradeoffs, particularly being barely able to keep up with the troop transports they were intended to protect. By 1962, a small number of armed UH-1As were used as escorts, armed with multiple machine guns and rocket mounts. Without friendly support from artillery or ground forces, the only way to pacify a landing zone was from the air, preferably with an aircraft that could closely escort the transport helicopters, and loiter over the landing zone as the battle progressed. It became clear that unarmed troop helicopters were vulnerable against ground fire from Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops, particularly as they approached landing zones to disembark or embark troops. The linchpin of US Army tactics was the helicopters, and the protection of those helicopters became a vital role. The massive expansion of American military presence in Vietnam opened a new era of war from the air. Instead, the plan was that the troops carried by fleets of UH-1 "Hueys" would range across the country, to fight the enemy at times and places of their own choice. Unlike before, they would not stand and fight long battles, and they would not stay and hold positions. The UH-1 made the theory of air cavalry practical, as the new tactics called for US forces to be highly mobile across a wide area.
1.2 Iroquois Warrior, Sioux Scout and AAFSSĬlosely related to the development of the Bell AH-1 is the story of the Bell UH-1 Iroquois transport helicopter-an icon of the Vietnam War and one of the most numerous helicopter types built.
Furthermore, surplus AH-1 helicopters have been reused for other purposes, including civilian ones numerous examples have been converted to perform aerial firefighting operations. Upgraded versions of the Cobra have been developed, such as the twin engined AH-1 SeaCobra/SuperCobra and the experimental Bell 309 KingCobra. Turkish AH-1s have seen regular combat with Kurdish insurgents near Turkey's southern borders. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) operated the Cobra most prolifically along its land border with Lebanon, using its fleet intensively during the 1982 Lebanon War. In US Army service, the Cobra was progressively replaced by the newer and more capable Boeing AH-64 Apache during the 1990s, with the final examples being withdrawn during 2001. The first examples of the type entered service with the United States Army during 1967 other branches of the US military also opted to acquire the type, particularly the United States Marine Corps, while export sales were made to numerous overseas countries, including Israel, Japan, and Turkey.įor several decades, the AH-1 formed the core of the US Army's attack helicopter fleet, seeing combat in Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, and Iraq. Accordingly, the AH-1 was a dedicated attack helicopter, featuring a tandem cockpit, stub wings for weapons, and a chin-mounted gun turret. It was produced in response to fulfil a need for a dedicated armed escort for transport helicopters to give the latter greater survivability in contested environments. The AH-1 was developed using the engine, transmission and rotor system of the Bell UH-1 Iroquois, which had proven itself to be a capable platform during the Vietnam War. A member of the prolific Huey family, the AH-1 is also referred to as the Hue圜obra or Snake.
The Bell AH-1 Cobra is a single-engined attack helicopter developed and manufactured by the American rotorcraft manufacturer Bell Helicopter.