The World War 2 Rotary Wing Aviation

This led to the Army having free reign to conduct aviation missions as they saw fit. In 1962, the Army’s armored helicopters were on their way to Vietnam with the 68th Aviation Company in order to support ground units and other air assets.

During the Vietnam War the M42 (Duster) tracked self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG) vehicle influenced the future versatility and capabilities of the Air Defense Artillery systems of today’s United States Army. This system put a lasting impression on the minds and confidence of the American Army Soldiers. These Soldiers actively participated in defending the South Vietnamese from the North Vietnamese and its southern allies, known as the Viet Cong (or Vietnamese Communist). Not only did the M42 Duster (SPAAG) raise the moral and boost confidence with the American Soldiers, it instilled fear and discouraged the enemy from attacking positions that were fortified with versatile air defense systems. This

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

The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk was a single-engine, single-seat, metal fighter plane and ground-attack aircraft that was made by the Americans. The P-40 Warhawk fighters first flew in 1938 and caught the attention of the United States Army Air Corps, who placed the largest fighter plane order it had ever made for fighters for a count of 524 at a cost of US$13 million. This was the earliest serious fighter in WWII and did its job until better fighters came out. It was known as a safe and secure aircraft that was able to fly pilots back home after being shot up in action. Many variants of this plane were later created. In addition, the shark teeth graphics were a big feature on this plane.

The helicopter was a jack of all trades machine. They could easily put down suppressing fire to the enemy. They were also great with transporting troops in and out of the battlefield. This caused the US troops to move at any given time. In a war of search and destroyed, the helicopter can be used as an offensive weapon to attack the enemy or easily put troops in battle to find the enemy. Helicopters were a great usage in the war due to the terrain of Vietnam and Vietnam is filled with jungles, mountains and in the wet season sometimes covered in a foot of water. This made the helicopter very useful in transporting troops. Due to the helicopter multi-uses it would play key roles on the battle field in Vietnam.

The jet fighter planes ended up playing a large role throughout the war. The use of helicopters was used throughout the war for resupply missions and they started using the helicopters as a medevac for wounded personnel. Since time is of the essence these new helicopter medevac’s saved a lot of people by getting them to a location for medical help significantly faster than previous methods. This method also became incredibly crucial during the Vietnam War along with the helicopters being armed with missiles and machine guns to cause damage and be able to evacuate the

Everyone has seen movies that portray aviation and the use of helicopters in wars and conflicts throughout the years. Even that first sentence alone was enough to conjure up an old time favorite scene of a favorite movie. One thing that Hollywood always seems to leave out of movies is the reality that a helicopters mechanical limitations take on the flight, the calculations and actions of the aircrew based on these limits, and the overall impact these place on the mission. There are also environmental limiting factors that take place on a helicopter, whether it is temperature, moisture, or the terrain itself. We get it. Showing

Prior to that battle, President Johnson elected to debut a new style of warfare using helicopters that would allow the U.S. Army to overcome Vietnams rugged terrain. This new Division of the Army would be dubbed the 1st Cavalry Division, Airmobile and its Commander; Lt. Col Harold Moore would lead the charge (The Out Post, 1996).

According to Pritzker Military the F-4 was the primary fighter aircraft. The F-4 intercepted enemy info and was utilized as a bomber. According to Pritzker Military the UH-1 and AH-1 were the two most popular helicopters used by the US. The UH-1 was a bigger helicopter that was used for transporting troops and dropping them into battle. On the other hand the AH-1 provided ground support for troops as a gunning helicopter. Aircrafts not only dominated the skies in Vietnam but also provided support for ground troops as transportation and

As a branch the air defense artillery is not well educated on its history. With this paper we will show that air defense artillery was vital asset for Korean and United States forces. We will also cover the history of coastal artillery along with a few early weapon systems and the minor changes made to them during the evolution of the air defense from the beginning leading up to the Korean War. In doing so we will highlight the weapon systems used by the United States during the Korean War. Our thesis in this paper is that the Korean War was one of the key points in the development of the air defense branch as a whole.

In the early 1990s, the Army created a new specification for a dedicated MEDEVAC helicopter to be designed around the updated UH-60L airframe. “It was designated as the UH-60Q DUSTOFF that was an acronym for “Dedicated Unhesitating Service To Our Fighting Forces” (Leoni, 2011). It was equipped with new medical equipment including an oxygen generating system, a cardiac monitoring system, a powered litter lift system and outlets for AC electrical power and night vision compatible lighting. The new litter system could accommodate six patients and provided convenient access for medical personnel to treat injuries. It was also equipped with Forward Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) system that allowed the crew to identify casualties by body heat or in inclement weather. These upgraded systems lead to quicker evacuations while improving life saving measures for wounded personnel.

The Vietnam War was the first successful large scale usage of rotary wing aircraft to move combat troops and equipment around the battlefield in the history of warfare. The terrain and vegetation of the Vietnam countryside make most parts of the country inaccessible to wheeled and tracked vehicles and using relatively inexpensive aircraft was the best way to move troops around during that timeframe. Using helicopters, it was now possible to not only place troops and equipment where they were most needed, but it also made a quick way to bring back wounded troops back to the rear areas for trauma care.

During the Vietnam War the US relied on the helicopter as never before. The helicopter’s role in combat expanded enormously in this War, as thousands of “choppers” rapidly transported personnel throughout the War Zone. In addition, heavily armed helicopters offered effective close air support for ground operations. Mobility and firepower would be keys for American operations in Vietnam, and the helicopter provided an abundance of both. Thousands of missions were flown to resupply and reinforce troops on the ground, to evacuate US and South Vietnamese wounded, and to offer countless other services in pursuance of the War effort.

During the beginning of World War I aircraft were still primitive and in their infancy of development. They carried no weapons and were limited on their speed and range. It was not only the limits of this new technology that hampered its deployment into combat it was also the inadequacies of the pilots. This meant aircraft needed to be easy to fly so they were built to be less maneuverable and more stable. Without a direct role in combat they found their first uses during the war as a reconnaissance tool. It did not take long before pilots started carrying personal weapons which evolved into mounting machine guns to the aircraft, then the use of bombs. As the aircraft evolved from a reconnaissance tools into a tactical and strategical

Igor Sikorsky widened the field of aviation throughout his life with inventions that caught the interest of the world. In the early 1920’s, after successfully building a four-engine biplane, Sikorsky began his work on amphibian aircraft. The aircraft proved to be versatile with its ability to take off and land on an airstrip or in the water. Sikorsky increased the size and maximum range of his designs until producing the S-42 Flying Clipper. His line of amphibian planes became the precursor to commercial transoceanic flight. He played an important role in both the introduction of amphibian aircraft and its transition into commercial aviation. Sikorsky also contributed heavily to the development of the helicopter and research of rotary flight design. His design concept that had one main lifting rotor in combination with a smaller rotor to counteract torque is still used in modern helicopters. The helicopters maneuverability and ability to lift off vertically allowed it to fly into and out of terrain not fit for normal aircraft. He designed the R-4 which became widely produced and utilized by the military mainly for delivery of supplies and search and rescue. The company he began in New York, now called Sikorsky Aircraft, produced the S-70 Black Hawk helicopter in response to the Army’s need for a durable transport helicopter in 1972. Sikorsky Aircraft manufactured over 900 aircraft for the Army by the end of 1989 and a family of helicopters spawned from variations of the