Posted on 10/23/2014 1:47:43 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
ARMED with AGM-114 Hellfire anti-armour missiles, free-flight rockets, and 30mm automatic cannon, the army’s $40 million Tiger helicopters are ready for combat.
And they were put through their paces yesterday as part of the Defence Force’s annual Exercise Chong Ju at Puckapunyal Army Base, with The Daily Telegraph given exclusive behind-the-scenes access.
The Tiger’s state-of-the-art cannon can engage ground or air targets at a rate of 750 rounds per minute at a range of 1.5km.
The choppers rockets are practising out of the Puckapunyal Army base in Victoria. Picture Craig Greenhill
Using helmet-mounted sight displays, pilots only have to look at a target and pull the trigger.
The Hellfire anti-armour, air-to-surface missiles — used with devastating effect aboard US Marines Cobra and Apache choppers — are laser-guided for precision accuracy at maximum range. Targets can be laser-designated by the Tiger before or after launch and by soldiers remotely on the ground.
Tiger Pilots Captain Abdul Hamidon, Squadron Commander Major Kelvin Muller, Captain Lucas Holt and Captain Simon McGovern.
Australian Army’s 16th Aviation Brigade commander Brigadier Michael Prictor said the Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopters had been used effectively by the French and German armies in Afghanistan, Libya and Mali.
After a decade training pilots and preparing the combat choppers, the Darwin-based Tigers of 1st Aviation Regiment are ready for deployment.
“We had to introduce a completely new capability that the Australian Army had never had before — an advanced attack helicopter,” Brigadier Prictor said. “We now have one Tiger squadron certified and ready to deploy and a second squadron being built. The Tiger can operate in almost any environment, by day or night.”
Exercise Chong Ju is designed to showcase the ADF’s joint and combined arms capabilities and its arsenal of weapons, including the Tigers, Javelin anti-armour missiles, RAAF F-18 Hornets, M1 tanks, M777 Howitzers, and infantry weapons such as mortars. machineguns and assault
Combat country ... Exercise Chong Ju at Puckapunyal, Victoria. rifles.
161 Recce Squadron commander Major Kelvin Muller — who flew AH-1W SuperCobra choppers on exchange with the US Marines in the Middle East and Africa — piloted a Tiger in yesterday’s exercise, deploying the cannon and dropping rockets on mock targets.
Major Muller said the Tigers could generally fly for up to 2.5 hours before requiring a refuel.
“The Tiger is a highly manoeuvrable, agile aircraft with a very capable weapons sight,” Major Muller said.
“It’s a tandem-seat helicopter, which means the pilot sits in front and the battle captain sits in the rear seat, which makes the aircraft very ‘skinny’ when viewed from the front.
“This makes the Tiger a very small target for any enemy forces, and also allows the pilots an unobstructed view in all directions.”
Brigadier Prictor said the Army was actively seeking quality candidates to pilot its aircraft, including the Tigers, Black Hawks, Taipans and Chinooks.
“There is always a demand for pilots and support crews,” he said.
If the text is right that is bit different: most tandem attack helo’s put the gunner in front.
Hmmm, made by Eurocopter - it appears to be a Super Cobra clone, (or damn near).
Hmmm, made by Eurocopter - it appears to be a Super Cobra clone, (or damn near).
No masthead sensor pod, which means it has to expose itself to sense and designate targets. That’s not great in a world of see-and-shoot SAM systems.
Cobra-clone?
I pray that ol' Abdul doesn't suddenly change teams in the middle of the battle. "Allahu Fubar!"
Yes, and only molely faced girls are used as ground crew. That is proven by the picture.
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