If a ground commander was taking enemy fire, he would “drop smoke” (a smoke grenade) and call in the Cobras to suppress the threat. In an air assault, says Mitchell, the Cobras would race ahead-they could comfortably cruise at 120 knots, almost 140 mph-and lay down cover fire to clear the landing zone for the troop transporters. Up front, the co-pilot controlled a rotating “chin turret” armed with a minigun and a grenade launcher. The pilot sat in the rear and could fire dozens of rockets from wing-mounted launchers. The Cobra was flown by two airmen, like a World War II-era fighter. The designation AH stands for “attack helicopter,” and the Cobra had the weaponry to back it up. The result was the Bell AH-1G “Cobra,” better known in Vietnam by its nickname, the “Snake.” Back at Bell headquarters, engineers reimagined the Huey as a true fighter aircraft. Modified Hueys were effective as gunships, but they weren’t built for the job. Mitchell says that the combination of troop-moving Slicks supported by a platoon of Huey gunships was a “match made in heaven.” With different models of Hueys performing specialized functions, the Army could send fully-armed troops directly into the combat zone protected by serious firepower. As the war progressed, the Army ordered bigger Hueys for troop transport (known as “Slicks”) and attack-style Hueys equipped with joystick-guided missiles and heavy machine guns. Unlike Korean War-era helicopters, which were powered by internal combustion engines, the Hueys and other Vietnam-era choppers had jet turbines (called turboshaft engines) powering their rotors, making them lighter, faster and much more powerful. At Fort Benning, Army tacticians developed the concept of the “air assault,” a helicopter squadron of troop transports and gunships that could bring the battle to even the most remote location. The first Hueys arrived in Vietnam in the late 1950s to run medevac missions (called “dustoffs”) for American military advisors, but it didn’t take long for the Army to see the potential of the Huey as a new kind of war machine for a new kind of war. The designation UH stands for “utility helicopter,” and no aircraft in the Vietnam War was more utilized than the Bell UH-1, the versatile workhorse known as the Huey. Here are six iconic helicopters from the conflict. Helicopters like the Bell UH-1 “Iroquois” (better known by its nickname, the “Huey”) were so ubiquitous in the jungles and rice paddies of Southeast Asia-Hueys logged more than 10 million flight hours-that they’ve become a symbol of the Vietnam War. The young men who flew those helicopters-many of them only 19 or 20 years old-had “absolutely the most dangerous jobs in the war,” he adds. “The Army went through helicopters at a ferocious pace during the Vietnam War,” says Robert Mitchell, director of the U.S. In total, nearly 12,000 helicopters saw action in the war and more than 5,000 were destroyed. military employed helicopters in Vietnam. Headwear is found in articles of matching armor where possible.The Vietnam War is known as the “Helicopter War.” While helicopters played limited roles in both World War II and the Korean War-mostly for medical evacuation (“medevac”) missions-helicopters were involved with nearly every facet of the war in Vietnam: troop transport, scouting, equipment hauling, search and rescue, and providing high-caliber air support for ground troops.Įvery branch of the U.S. Italics denote armors only available through add-ons. Raider wastehound helmet ( Boogeyman's hood).Raider arclight helmet ( Torcher's mask).Pre-War baseball cap ( kid's baseball cap, Takoma Park little leaguer cap).Chinese commando hat ( Hat of the People).Vault 101 utility jumpsuit ( Dad's wasteland outfit, modified utility jumpsuit).Vault jumpsuits ( child's Vault 101 jumpsuit, Vault 77 jumpsuit).Winterized Chinese jumpsuit ( General Jingwei's uniform).Scientist outfits ( Lab coat, Lesko's lab coat, The Surgeon's lab coat).Kid's outfits ( Blast Off pajamas, kid's cave rat outfit, Mayor MacCready's outfit).
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