How hardcore are modern attack helicopters? What weapons can they carry?

In the early days of the Vietnam War, many American helicopters were shot down by the ground due to lack of weapons. So the United States equipped the AH-1 Cobra with weapons and quickly proved its value in the Vietnam battlefield. Early weapons were installed directly on the helicopter doors, and the shooter fired at ground targets from the doors.

Figure 1. Cannon on the hatch of a US Cobra helicopter in Vietnam (Source: Sina)

With the development of armed helicopters, helicopters can now carry a variety of firepower such as air-to-ground missiles, air-to-air missiles, aircraft cannons, rockets, machine guns, etc. The firepower control system is also becoming more and more advanced, and the shooting accuracy and firepower intensity have been comprehensively improved.

1. Air-to-Surface Missiles

Helicopter-mounted air-to-ground missiles are mainly used to attack enemy tanks, armored vehicles, cars and other mobile targets on the ground. They can also be used to destroy radar stations, fuel depots, ammunition depots and other fixed targets. They are usually guided by wire, laser or millimeter-wave radar.

Wire guidance requires the shooter to keep the crosshairs of the scope pressed against the target until the missile hits. This requires the helicopter to remain in a hover or fly in a slow and straight line during the shooting process, which makes it very vulnerable to attack. The range of the wire-guided missile is short, about 3-4 kilometers.

Figure 2 A U.S. Cobra helicopter carrying six AGM-22 wire-controlled missiles (Image source: NetEase)

Laser-guided air-to-ground missiles are a semi-active guidance method. The target is illuminated by a laser beam. After the missile is launched from a helicopter, the laser seeker receives the laser signal reflected by the target. The method of illuminating the target is relatively flexible. It can be illuminated by the missile itself, by another machine (including helicopters, drones) or from the ground. The missile range can reach 8-10 kilometers.

Figure 3 Laser-guided air-to-ground missile mounted on a Russian Ka-52 helicopter (Photo source: NetEase)

Millimeter-wave radar-guided air-to-ground missiles use a more advanced guidance system, and the missiles can be "fired and forgotten". A typical example is the "Longbow Hellfire" missile mounted on the US Longbow Apache, which uses millimeter-wave guidance and has a maximum range of 8 kilometers.

Figure 4 Millimeter-wave guided air-to-ground missile mounted on a US Apache helicopter (Image source: Baijiahao)

In addition to the above guidance methods, there are also infrared imaging guidance, multi-mode guidance and other methods, but the mainstream development is still self-guided guidance.

2. Aviation Rockets

Aerial rockets are area-strike firepower, mainly targeting ground cluster targets, including gathering places for personnel and vehicles, artillery positions and other area targets. The calibers of rockets used by different countries vary, including 57, 70, 90 mm and other calibers, and the range can reach 6 to 10 kilometers. Rockets are installed in rocket launchers, and 7-tube and 19-tube rocket launchers are more common.

Figure 5 57mm rocket launched from Mi-17 (Source: Baijiahao)

Traditional rockets have no guidance function, and are easily affected by the swaying of helicopters when launched. After launch, the dispersion area is relatively large, the accuracy is low, and the circular error probability can reach 10 meters. In order to improve the accuracy of the hit, some aerial rockets are equipped with simple laser seekers to achieve semi-active laser guidance, and the circular error probability can be reduced to about 2 meters.

Figure 6 3D schematic diagram of the replacement of the laser seeker of the US military's Hydra unguided rocket (Source: Baijiahao)

In order to kill different types of targets, aviation rockets can also use a variety of warheads such as armor-piercing bombs, explosive bombs, and cluster bombs.

3. Air-to-Air Missiles

Helicopter-mounted air-to-air missiles are mainly used to attack low-altitude targets, including airplanes, helicopters, drones, etc. Most airborne air-to-air missiles are improved from ground-based air defense missiles or air-to-air missiles used by fighter jets. For example, the Stinger air-to-air missiles mounted on US helicopters are the same as the Stinger portable air defense missiles used on the ground.

Figure 7 Tiger helicopter carrying two Stinger air-to-air missiles (Source: Baijiahao)

At present, the air-to-air missiles mounted on helicopters mainly use infrared guidance. After launch, they can be left alone and the missiles can search for targets autonomously. The maximum range can exceed 5 kilometers. The warhead uses a proximity fuze or an intelligent fuze, and has omnidirectional attack capabilities.

Figure 8 Apache helicopter launches Stinger missile (Photo source: NetEase)

4. Aircraft guns and machine guns

The aircraft gun is mainly used to attack personnel and vehicles on the ground, and can also be used to attack helicopters and drones in the air. Most armed helicopters have an aircraft gun installed under the nose, which can be linked to the pilot's helmet. Wherever the pilot looks, the aircraft gun can point to that direction.

Figure 9 my country's Z-10 armed helicopter cannon (Photo source: NetEase)

The Russian Ka-52 attack helicopter is quite special. The cannon is installed on the side of the fuselage, which greatly limits the firing range. The caliber of helicopter cannons is mostly between 20 mm and 30 mm, and the effective range can reach 2,000 meters. When the cannon is fired, the recoil will have a certain impact on the helicopter structure and flight, so the caliber and installation position of the cannon are strictly calculated and tested.

In addition to armed helicopters being able to carry weapons, transport helicopters can also be modified to carry a variety of weapons, which can greatly enhance their ground assault capabilities. They can not only transport weapons, but also have firepower strike capabilities.

Figure 10 Armed Black Hawk transport helicopter (Source: Baijiahao)

As shown in the picture above, the Black Hawk transport helicopter can carry a variety of weapons such as missiles and rockets by adding weapon racks and optoelectronic aiming devices. In addition to these weapons, the most commonly used weapon for transport helicopters is the door machine gun, which can provide fire support for ground soldiers in combat.

Figure 11 Transport helicopter door machine gun (Photo source: Baijiahao)

The recoil of the door-mounted machine gun when firing will also affect the structure and flight of the helicopter. The type and quantity of the door-mounted machine guns need to be selected according to the size of the helicopter, and they must be fixed with special brackets.

Since the maximum take-off weight is limited, the number of weapons that a helicopter can carry is limited. Every time an armed helicopter performs a combat mission, it selects weapons in a targeted manner according to the mission requirements. For example, when a helicopter performs an escort mission, it needs to carry air-to-air missiles, and when performing a ground fire assault mission, it needs to carry air-to-ground missiles and rockets, etc.

Introduction to the Science Popularization Team: The 597.9 Highland Science and Technology Innovation Team is a young science and technology innovation team dedicated to modern warfare research, combat theory innovation, military science popularization, and professional military theory consulting. The team is composed of several doctors in military science, who have extensive experience in military, college, and scientific research institutions, have fruitful academic research results, and have a rigorous and realistic attitude towards scholarship and a pioneering spirit of innovation. The fundamental purpose of the team is to "spread scientific and technological knowledge, promote the fighting spirit, and help strengthen the country and the army."

Produced by: Popular Science China Military Technology Frontier

Author: Lu Ying (military expert)

Planning: Jin He

Scientific review: Liang Chunhui (military expert)

Producer: Guangming Online Science Department