Best Gunship

[Wyatt earp]

AC-130.

Lol when I read the topic thinking the something

 

[westwall]

Here's a video on the Cheyenne, it's dated but it's amazing how many things that this aircraft pioneered have gone into the current aircraft of today. Silly people like onyx simply have no experience with what came before and how significant it was. If you go to minute eleven of the video you will see one of the 56 precursors doing a loop. Something that is exceptionally difficult to do in a helicopter.

 

[bodecea]

bodecea I thought it was pretty obvious that this was only talking about Rotorcraft Attack Helicopters, but maybe I should of been more clear.

Doesn't matter...the AC-130 is the best.

 

[Daryl Hunt]

I would have to vote for the MI-35 if one were to go with the most useful and adaptable and meaner than a snake. It is a full fledged world class attack chopper capable of shrugging off up to a 23mm AA, it carries 8 fully equipped troops, has a sling option on it as well.

 

[yiostheoy]

I liked the USN and USMC Cobra, but that was before your time and not on your list.

 

[Daryl Hunt]

I liked the USN and USMC Cobra, but that was before your time and not on your list.

It is on the list. It's the UH-1. It started out as a single engine Attack Chopper for Vietnam. But it's grown to 2 engines and one mean piece of work. I chose that one as well. While the AH-64 may have more bells and whistles, in a head to head against an AH-1U and the AH-1U has constantly eaten the AH-64 for lunch. They haven't let them play that game since the AH-1 was removed from Army Service. Where the AH-64 is brute force, the AH-1 is a ballerina with a real bad attitude.

 

[Onyx]

The Apache is the worse on the poll. It's the oldest and most outdated. You could buy 2 or 3 of most of these gunships for every one Apache.

 

[Marion Morrison]

Warning: Terrorists died in the making of this video.

 

[Wyatt earp]

Warning: Terrorists died in the making of this video.

The A10 is cool, probably the only airplane they made the main gun first (from what I read) and built the airplane around it.



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[Daryl Hunt]

Warning: Terrorists died in the making of this video.

The A10 is cool, probably the only airplane they made the main gun first (from what I read) and built the airplane around it.



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Agreed but this isn't about the A-10 or the AC-130. Even so, the A-10 loses big time to the AC-130.

As for not having the Cobra listed, the Viper IS the Cobra that has been upgraded.

 

[heil hitler]

I chose the Havoc gunship (Mil Mi-28) because it improved upon the legendary Mi-24 hind's attack capabilities in almost every way. It's fast and maneuverable. It is heavily armored and has an advanced electronic surveillance and targeting system. It is highly weather resilient and produces low noise for night operations. Furthermore, it has a 3 seat passenger compartment for transporting specialty units and rescue missions.

I was in Afghan and worked with the AAF on Mi-24 aircraft. Really awesome platform. Russian tech is brilliant in its simplicity and durability. These were truly the tanks of the sky. Brilliant simplicity.

 

[heil hitler]

All heavy attack helicopters. I included the most prolific today. I excluded some gunships which are in limited service, being phased out, have specialty roles, ect.

The best, by far, is the AH 56 Cheyenne which lost out to the Apache for political reasons.

That looks like a platform that has a lot of room for expansion. Odd horizontal stab design. I wonder the logic for that?

 

[Divine Wind]

That picture looks like it was taken from the 1st red dawn movie


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It is. It's actually a SA 330 Puma reconfigured to look like a Hind.

Red Dawn (1984) - Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games

 

[Wyatt earp]

That picture looks like it was taken from the 1st red dawn movie


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It is. It's actually a SA 330 Puma reconfigured to look like a Hind.

Red Dawn (1984) - Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games

Damn I was 100% correct though where the picture came from.



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[Divine Wind]

All heavy attack helicopters. I included the most prolific today. I excluded some gunships which are in limited service, being phased out, have specialty roles, ect.

The best, by far, is the AH 56 Cheyenne which lost out to the Apache for political reasons.

That looks like a platform that has a lot of room for expansion. Odd horizontal stab design. I wonder the logic for that?

It looks like it incorporates a tailwheel. A twofer. Such design would keep the fuselage level on landing.

The Cheyenne was ahead of its time, but also have technological challenges which weren't solvable at the time. With Vietnam winding down and the Democrats cutting the military budget, there wasn't any money to iron out the problems.

The Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne Attack Helicopter Might Have Been a Formidable Weapon | Defense Media Network

 

[Onyx]

I was in Afghan and worked with the AAF on Mi-24 aircraft. Really awesome platform. Russian tech is brilliant in its simplicity and durability. These were truly the tanks of the sky. Brilliant simplicity.

The Russian's literally nicknamed them Flying Tanks.

Russian engineering is brilliant. They focus on practicality and efficiency like no one else. Western countries like the United States tend to spend a lot of time and money on unnecessary features and technological add ons for their equipment, which sacrifices basic efficiency.

 

[Daryl Hunt]

I still think the MI-35N is superior to the MI-28. The range of the 35 is roughly twice what the combat range with loiter time is for the 28. I will admit the 30mm gun on the 28 is impressive but the twin 23s of the 35 ain't no slouch.

As for the Viper versus the Super Cobra, the Viper starts out life as a UH-1 and is adapted. Sort of like the old Slick versus the up armored version of yore. The list left out the Cobra completely and the AH-1Z Zulu is still in production with the US Marines replacing their AH-1Us with the Zulus. The Zulu is one of the fastest attack choppers out there.

 

[Onyx]

The Zulu is a variant of the Viper. I didn't include every variant of the same model.

The Cobra doesn't deserve to be on the list (along with the shitpache) since the Viper is considered to be an upgrade .

 

[Wyatt earp]

I was in Afghan and worked with the AAF on Mi-24 aircraft. Really awesome platform. Russian tech is brilliant in its simplicity and durability. These were truly the tanks of the sky. Brilliant simplicity.

The Russian's literally nicknamed them Flying Tanks.

Russian engineering is brilliant. They focus on practicality and efficiency like no one else. Western countries like the United States tend to spend a lot of time and money on unnecessary features and technological add ons for their equipment, which sacrifices basic efficiency.

I think it has to be more budget conscious more then anything else, I remember NASA spending big bucks to get a pen to write in space, and the Russians answer was to use a pencil



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[heil hitler]

I was in Afghan and worked with the AAF on Mi-24 aircraft. Really awesome platform. Russian tech is brilliant in its simplicity and durability. These were truly the tanks of the sky. Brilliant simplicity.

The Russian's literally nicknamed them Flying Tanks.

Russian engineering is brilliant. They focus on practicality and efficiency like no one else. Western countries like the United States tend to spend a lot of time and money on unnecessary features and technological add ons for their equipment, which sacrifices basic efficiency.

I think it has to be more budget conscious more then anything else, I remember NASA spending big bucks to get a pen to write in space, and the Russians answer was to use a pencil



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Not budget per say. Older Soviet designs were based upon available technology. Russian design favors utility and ease of maintenance. This is transferred across the board on any number of weapon systems from their field rifle to their aircraft. Russian systems, contrary to popular belief are not necessarily low tech. They are systems which are designed to function at a much lower break rate. The Russians simply implement systems which are tried and true. They are amazing in their ability to break down the complex into the in-complex.