Apache gunship goes to work in Iraq. Warning: Graphic Video

Me

[Double Tap]

Apparently this is a clip of a longer video of an Apache gunship engaging Iraqis.

Warning: This video is graphic!!!

http://www.lunitixx.com/sharefoo/224Helicopter_Kills.mpeg

I forget how to post a link, so if someone can do the honors, I would appreciate it.

[bolobaby]

When I went to go see Saving Private Ryan (second time in the theatre), there was an elderly gentleman who came in and sat done just prior to the movie starting. He was clearly a WWII vet.

As soon as the door opened and the firing started, he put his head down, closed his eyes, and covered his ears. He didn't move for a long, long time.

Finally, he opened his eyes. The shooting had stopped and the squad tasked to find Ryan were slogging through the French countryside. Without hesitating, he stood up and walked out of the theatre.

Man, I felt bad for him.

[PhilDragoo]

Attempt to set an IED--be vaporized.

Attempt to play Black Hawk Down with our Apaches--be vaporized.

The media hates to report Bad Guys Die--Free Republic fills the void.

BAD GUYS DIE

[BushMeister]

The gunner fires the initial blast off without the range finder engaged. His boss says "What range do you have?...you don't have any range on. Go auto range."

Gunner:"F*ck".

Commander: "Roger".

[Kevin Curry]

I thought that's what I heard the gunner mutter, too.

[B4Ranch]

Profanity Loud and Clear!

"especially when you know exactly how a 30mm cannon affects the human body." You need a job in the mess hall, Sonny.

A 30mm HE blows a human body into small tiny chunks, DEAD INSTANTLY. Much better than being gut shot by a fragment from a mortar on a dark night out in the jungle wouldn't you say? Wondering if you'll still be pumping when AIRMED gets to you in the morning for extraction.

Yes, killing effects everyone who has had to do it differently. I also have friends who were crushed by PTSD but the guys who get more of my tears are the ones who suffered actual head wounds. The man up the street who eye muscles don't function and he has to put medicine in them every hour on the hour, then tape his eyelids closed to go to sleep. He gets my constant prayers.

[Eris]

That was it.

[AnAmericanMother]

Poor guy, he probably realized he'd made a bad mistake as soon as the LST stopped moving. Even on DVD that first scene is pretty overwhelming. I can't imagine what it was like in a theater with surround sound.

I think my dad and his bud made the right choice. Once you've seen the elephant, what need to be reminded of it in living color?

I've never had to kill anybody, but I came close once - I know it would have bothered me for a long time even though the guy was a goblin trying to mug me and roundly deserved two 1911A1 slugs to the chest. I am devoutly grateful that he "got religion" as soon as he saw what I was holding. A police officer friend of mine had to kill an armed robber in a shootout and it was very upsetting. He shook just talking about it for some time afterwards.

[old school]

Amen!

[longtermmemmory]

Is this real? I though troops are trained to ignore wounded since it drains resources.

Somehow this looks fake, like the "real moon landing" video.

[bolobaby]

You need a job in the mess hall, Sonny.

Man, I'm not even gonna justify that comment. I was born with a blue cord over my shoulder. The day I'm buried, there will be a blue cord over my shoulder.

[B4Ranch]

I apologize for making it. I was pissed, plain and simple.

You do appear to be very concerned with what your mental ablilities will be should you have to engage an enemy soldier in combat. Perhaps you need to discuss this condition with the chaplain and the Med Officer.

[SAMWolf]

Amen B4Ranch.

These are people who'd cut your childrens throat while you watched. There's no compromise or reasoning with them. Dead is all they understand, I for one have sbsolutely no sympathy for any of them. I save that for our military, that these guys are doing their best to kill.

[bolobaby]

Actually, it's nice to know that you only consider *some* soldiers real soldiers. That guy with PTSD - screw him! YEAH! HOOAH!

[bolobaby]

Whoops, then, I apologize for my counterattack. It was posted while you were posting your apology.

Don't worry yourself about my ability to pull the trigger. It's not an issue.

[mikegi]

The position of the second kill would be standing right next to the tractor, which appears to be rather cold as it does not show up as brightly as the men, would be consistent with someone working on the engine. The first kill could have been someone running for a tool.

Some comments:

1) From the ABCnews.com article: The video opens with the helicopter tracking a man in a pickup truck north of Baghdad. It would safe to assume that we had an Apache tracking the pickup truck for a reason.

2) The second guy, before he's tubed, is frantically pulling tarps/sheets off of something next to the tractor. I doubt it was a fresh oil filter he was after.

3) What time reference would the Apache's gun camera use: UTC, EST, local??? In the upper-left corner of the video the time appears to be something like 16:29:55 (at the end). Baghdad is UTC+3.

[Calvin Locke]

...nearly 100 30 mm cannon rounds...

I knew an engineer working on the 30mm cannon (primarily A10, with the lighter helo model) years ago. He said one round
could disable a tank (mid 1970's), and 3 would destroy it.

[Kevin Curry]

"The 30mm x 173 GAU-8/A ammunition was among the most effective ammunition used in Operation Desert Storm with proven performance against all targets, including tanks, armored and light vehicles. The 30mm lightweight family of ammunition was developed to optimize the air-to-ground mission of the U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopter. This ammunition family is also compatible with all 30mm x 113 gun systems. The PGU-13/B HEI High Explosive Incendiary round employs a standard M505 fuze and explosive mixture with a body of naturally fragmenting material that is effective against lighter vehicle and material targets. Sources and Resources."

[PokeyJoe]

windows media 8 format - wmv. Are you using Mozilla or Firebird?

[Robert A Cook PE]

No.

range is 1/4 - 1/2 mile based on elevation and resolution.

(Chopper too far away for the terrorists planting the bomb to hear clearly, esle they'ed NOT be walking around setting up the bomb!)

The explosions AT the scene when the 30mm shells blew up WOULD be heard clearly, which is why the third guy hid under the truck.

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My sympathies to the chopper pilot/weapons op who did the killing; yes, they will remember. All do.

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But the bomb was NOT set, and the highway is safer.

The world is safer.

And three terrorists are dead.

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But they DO need to go check the bomb out tomorrow morning.
Now