The AH-1 Cobra

With this new and improved anti-aircraft tank it became one of the perfect air defense weapon systems for potential low-altitude threats, with the M55 Quad 50 as its only rival in versatility. Known as the ‘Whispering Death’, the M55 Quad 50 consisted of four Browning M2 .50-caliber machine guns mounted in a power turret on a deuce and a half (2 ½) or 5 ton truck (“ADA Units in Vietnam”, n.d.). “Generally speaking…Quads could not go cross-country in support for maneuver units. But in operations away from established road nets where heavy machine-gun support was needed, it was possible to slingload the Quad with the CH-47 helicopter” (Charles E. Kirkpatrick, in “Arsenal”, Vietnam magazine,

The United States of America, one of the most powerful nations in the world at the time, was completely unprepared for the war that it had joined in Vietnam. The terrain was unlike any we had ever fought in. From mountains to jungles to rice paddies, it was wet, hot, cold, and completely unforgiving. To say that the political situation was tenuous would be a drastic understatement. Not only could officials not make up their minds, neither could the general populace. The media had an influence in this war that was heretofore unseen. All of these factors were a great obstacle in and of themselves and then we put into play the greatest obstacle of all: the enemy. This was an enemy like we had never seen. The North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the Vietcong (VC) were fast, agile, adaptable, and extremely unpredictable. The VC hid among the common populace and fought like demons. The NVA were well supplied, well organized, and did not restrict themselves the way many large armies do. This forced us to have to rapidly adapt and develop new tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) in order to counter all of these obstacles. Due to these needs and the rapidly advancing technology and versatility of helicopters, the Air Cavalry was born. The Air Cav was composed of several types of airframes including transport aircraft, attack aircraft, and reconnaissance aircraft. The reconnaissance aircraft were also known as Aeroscouts and were known for their boldness, audacity,

Centuries before the Korean War, wars were long and painful events that any man could ever go through. Troops would match from countries to countries, crossing mountains, trial through the forest, and wander the desert to meet with their enemy in battle. The only problem with the troops traveling so far for so long is that before the war ever starts, the men were fatigued and casualty rates were higher than they should be. By the Korean War, an amazing machine was introduced to the military ranks, turning the tide in warfighting and troop survivability. UH-1 Huey Helicopter, or Utility Helicopter, was the one machine that was created by Bell that change the concept in warfighting and giving the United States the upper hand in war. On several

In Saigon as the situation unfolded, the general of the ARVN asked the US for help. First the US and Vietnamese Air Force were able to airlift in supplies, fresh bodies, and remove the wounded. The AH-1 Cobra were able to stop most of the tank advancement and infantry men allowing the ARVN troops on the ground to continue to defend their positions10. The VNAF, along with the US Air force and US Navy brought in planes to engage and thwart the ability of the VNA/VC advancement. Though this was successful it was found that there was not any form of battle space de-confliction. In this the pilots found themselves not only dodging the Anti-Aircraft Artillery from the VNA/VC, but as well as other aircraft in the fight. Aircraft were seen flying into direct fire from other aircraft and no one was talking to each other. Ground troops were not on the same frequency so they would stumble into the engagement area as well.

The production team also made sure the weapons and vehicles were historically correct as well. To me, those are two of the things I would notice when it comes to viewing historically re-enacted war movies. I have seen too many movies where the weapons or vehicles that are from the wrong era ruin the movie and therefore destroying its historic value. However, in this movie, the production team hired a company called Cinema Weaponry who furnished and restored some 250 weapons for the Air Calvary soldiers including M-79 40mm grenade launchers, M-60 machine guns, 45-calibur pistols and M-16E1 assault rifles. The Vietnamese used anything from French and Russian surplus rifles including the MAT-49 submachine gun and PPS-43 rifles. Since few actual AK-47 were around, they made custom replicas of the Ak-47s. Over all, the costume and prop departments for this movie did an extraordinary job to simulate and recreate the Battle of Ia Drang in 1965.

The fighter was developed by McDonnell Douglas and featured a M-61A Vulcan cannon, an improvement added in response to F-4D pilot complaints. McDonnell Douglas focused almost exclusively on the Phantom in 1966-67, as it was the first multiservice aircraft, serving the Air Force, Navy and Marines. It was a workhorse, able to take pilots up to do reconnaissance, combat air patrol missions and tactical

In the vietnam war they used a gun called m14 which is a modified version of the m1 Garand from world war II. The m14 has different prototypes like the T25 and T47. The m14 was developed to replace seven different weapons like the m1 garand, springfield m1903, enfield m191, m1 carbine, m3 grease gun, thompson m1928/m1 and m1918 browning automatic rifle (BAR).

On the morning of April 30 1975, with White Christmas playing on the radio, the last American boarded a helicopter on the roof of the US Embassy in Saigon effectively ending a long and painful chapter in US military history (Leeker, 2015). The iconic photo of Americans climbing the embassy staircase to board the waiting helicopter became a lasting symbol and serves to highlight the critical role the helicopter played in the Vietnam War. While the United States had tested the feasibility of helicopters in the Korean War, their utility and combat power fully matured over the rice paddies and jungles of Vietnam. This was never more apparent than during the final hours of the Vietnam War. The massive air evacuation that took place undoubtedly saved

Due to OPSEC considerations, the rotary-wing aircraft chosen for Operation Eagle Claw was the RH-53. The RH-53, chosen solely because it looked “correct” on a United States Navy ship. The decision to choose the RH-53 significantly contributed to the mission failure at the desert-landing zone known as Desert One. The RH-53 was a poor choice for several reasons. First, the pilots chosen to fly the mission were United States Air Force pilots who were unfamiliar with the aircraft and its characteristics. Second, the RH-53 historically had a poor Operational Readiness (OR) rate as it suffered from significant maintenance issues making it unreliable. Third, the RH-53 had no inflight refueling

The Predator C, “Avenger” developed and built by General Atomics Aeronautical, is an upgraded version of its predecessors the MQ-1 and MQ-9 and is meant to support military operations well into the next decade. Powered by a Pratt & Whitney PW545B turbofan engine the Avenger is capable of speeds up to 400 knots true air speed (KTAS), and operational altitudes of up to 50,000 feet, well outpacing its predecessors (CITE). The Avenger has also been further optimized to reduce its Radar Cross Section (RCS), making it less detectable by enemy air defenses. Beyond its ability to out-fly the original Predator UAS, the Avenger is able to be equipped with a more capable and configurable sensors and weapons package. These advancements make the Predator C Avenger the most capable and universal hunter-killer type UAS

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On 10 November 1965 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division (AirMobile) were conducting search and destroy missions with light enemy contact from a forward airstrip south of Pleiku, Vietnam. The battalion

The majority of all AAA were used and produced in other countries. Such examples of these are the Chevalier, Model 1918, Grande Puissance Filloux (GPF), Hotchkiss and a variety of Improvised Fighting Vehicles. The Chevalier was produced by a Swiss national living in Great Britain and was armor piercing. The GPF and Hotchkiss were both outfitted to the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) when they arrived in France in 1917. The Model 1918 was one of the first AAA weapons that was actually produced by America; however, it was not fielded until December 1918 after the armistice had already been signed. Lastly, the Improvised Fighting Vehicle, also known as “Technical”, was the name given to make shift 4x4 trucks which were crudely equipped with machine guns on the back of them. Numerous countries frequently used these low cost options to aid in the fight against

That incident along with North Vietnamese aggression against South Vietnam, resulted in the A-1 Skyraider participating in the Vietnam War during its final four years of U.S. Navy service (Burgess, Richard R. & Rausa Rosario M. (2009). U.S. Navy A-1 Skyraider units of the Vietnam War. Great Britain: Osprey Publishing). The first mission set for the A-1 was mainly rescue combat air patrol (RESCAP) and search and rescue missions (SAR) (Burgess, Richard R. & Rausa Rosario M. (2009). Eventually in 1965, Operation Rolling Thunder saw the Skyraider begin to participate in armed reconnaissance missions, bombing runs on supply depots in North Vietnam and continual RESCAP missions (Burgess, Richard R. & Rausa Rosario M. (2009). Not only did this happen, but a first for the Skyraider occurred in June 1965, when four A-1s piloted by LT(jg) Jimmy Lynne, Lt Cdr Edwin Greathouse, Lt Clinton Johnson and Lt(jg) Charlie Harman were involved in a dogfight involving two Mig-17s (Burgess, Richard R. & Rausa Rosario M. (2009). When it was all said and done, one MIG was shot down and the other flew away (Burgess, Richard R. & Rausa Rosario M. (2009). No A-1s were shot down in the process and two of the pilots received the Distinguished Flying Cross, while the other two received Silver Stars for their action (Burgess, Richard R. & Rausa Rosario M. (2009). Another MiG shoot down occurred

U.S. Army needed vehicles. Jeep was one of the three companies that responded. In November of 1940, after 75 of building the design, the Willys Quad was delivered to the Army on Veteran's Day. Only two prototypes were ever made.