1.
United States Army
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The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President
2.
Army aviation
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An army aviation unit is an aviation-related unit of a nations army, often described as an air corps. These units are separate from a nations dedicated air force. Prior to the establishment of national air forces, many armies had military aviation units. As the separation between an army and air force led to a divergence of priorities, many armies re-established their own organic aviation branches to best serve their own needs. At this point the purpose of aircraft was still to act as an adjunct to traditional armies, today a compromise fairly typical the world over is if it has wings it belongs to the air force allowing the army to operate helicopters and light fixed wing aircraft. The tasks of each armys aviation units are defined slightly different, transporting the British Army in war and peace, London, Cooper, ISBN 0-85052-724-4 Warner, Guy, Boyd, Alex, Army Aviation in Ulster, Newtownards, Co. Down, Colourpoint Books, ISBN 1-904242-27-8 Young, Ralph B. Army aviation in Vietnam, an illustrated history of unit insignia, aircraft camouflage and markings, Ramsey, Huey Co. ISBN 0-9671980-1-1 Media related to Army aviation at Wikimedia Commons
3.
Fort Rucker
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Fort Rucker is a U. S. Army post located mostly in Dale County, Alabama, United States. It was named for a Civil War officer, Confederate General Edmund Rucker, the post is the primary flight training base for Army Aviation and is home to the United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence and the United States Army Aviation Museum. Small sections of the post also lie in Coffee, Geneva, part of the Dale County section of the base is a census-designated place, its population was 4,636 at the 2010 census. The main post has entrances from three bordering cities, Daleville, Ozark and Enterprise, in the years before the September 11,2001 attacks, the main post was an open post with unmanned gates allowing civilians to drive through. Following the attacks, this policy was changed, and the post is now closed to unauthorized traffic, Training, doctrine, and testing are all key parts of the Centers mission to develop Army Aviations capabilities. All Army Aviation training has been undertaken at Fort Rucker since 1973, as well as training of US Air Force and ally helicopter pilots, the Center is home to the US Army Aviation Technical Test Center, which conducts developmental aircraft testing for Army Aviation. The United States Army Operational Test and Evaluation Commands Test and Evaluation Coordination Office and TH-67 primary, the 110th Aviation Brigade consists of four battalions using three different sites. 1st Battalion, 11th Aviation Regiment, operates and manages air traffic services for USAACe/Fort Rucker. 1st Battalion, 14th Aviation Regiment operates from Hanchey Army Heliport and conducts graduate level training using the AH-64D Apache Longbow and OH-58D Kiowa helicopters. 1st Battalion, 212th Aviation Regiment operates from Lowe Army Heliport and Shell Army Heliport and conducts combat and night training, using the OH-58, UH-1. 1st Battalion, 223d Aviation Regiment operates from Cairns Army Airfield and Knox Army Heliport and conducts training using the CH-47 Chinook helicopter. Additionally, due to the number of warrant officers stationed there. Aviation branched warrant officers remain at Fort Rucker to complete flight training, upon completion of their training, aviation warrant officers receive the Army Aviator Badge. It is common knowledge in an Army Aviation career, that Everyone returns to Mother Rucker, because of the frequency of pilot training and re-education. The original name of the post was Ozark Triangular Division Camp, but before the camp was opened on 1 May 1942. Fort Rucker was opened on 1 May 1942 as Camp Rucker, in September 1942,1,259 additional acres south of Daleville were acquired for the construction of an airfield to support the training camp. It was known as Ozark Army Airfield until January 1959, when the name was changed to Cairns Army Airfield, the first troops to train at Camp Rucker were those of the 81st Infantry Division, the 81st Division left Rucker for action in the Pacific Theater in March 1943. Three other infantry divisions received training at Camp Rucker during the Second World War—the 35th, the 98th, the 66th Division left for the European Theater in October 1944
4.
Attack helicopter
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An attack helicopter is an armed helicopter with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with the capability of engaging targets on the ground, such as enemy infantry and armored fighting vehicles. Due to their heavy armament they are sometimes called helicopter gunships, weapons used on attack helicopters can include autocannons, machine guns, rockets, and guided anti-tank missiles such as the Hellfire. Many attack helicopters are capable of carrying air-to-air missiles, though mostly for purposes of self-defense. Todays attack helicopter has two roles, first, to provide direct and accurate close air support for ground troops. Attack helicopters are used to supplement lighter helicopters in the armed scout role. In combat, a helicopter is projected to destroy around 17 times its own production cost before it is destroyed. S. Army artillery spotter units over France, these aircraft were field-outfitted with either two or four bazooka rocket launchers attached to the struts, against German armored fighting vehicles. During the summer of 1944, U. S. Army Major Charles Carpenter managed to take on an anti-armor role with his rocket-armed Piper L-4. The only American helicopter in use during the war years, the Sikorsky R-4, was only being used for rescue and were very much experimental in nature. In the early 1950s, various countries around the world started to make increased use of helicopters in their operations in transport and liaison roles. Later on it was realised that these helicopters, successors to the World War II-era Sikorsky R-4, early examples include armed Sikorsky H-34s in service with the US Air Force and armed Mil Mi-4 in service with the Soviet Air Forces. This trend continued into the 1960s with the deployment of armed Bell UH-1s and Mil Mi-8s during the Vietnam War, by the 1990s, the missile-armed attack helicopter evolved into a primary anti-tank weapon. Able to quickly move about the battlefield and launch fleeting pop-up attacks, the helicopter gunship became a major tool against tank warfare, and most attack helicopters became more and more optimized for the antitank mission. Based on this realization, and with the involvement in Vietnam, the U. S. Army developed the requirements for a dedicated attack helicopter. The aircraft design selected for this program in 1965, was Lockheeds AH-56 Cheyenne, as the Army began its acquisition of a dedicated attack helicopter, it sought options to improve performance over the continued use of improvised interim aircraft. The three highest-ranked aircraft, the Sikorsky S-61, Kaman H-2 Tomahawk, and the Bell AH-1 Cobra, were selected to compete in trials conducted by the Armys Aviation Test Activity. Upon completion of the evaluations, the Test Activity recommended Bells Huey Cobra to be an interim armed helicopter until the Cheyenne was fielded. On 13 April 1966, the U. S. Army awarded Bell Helicopter Company a production contract for 110 AH-1G Cobras, the Cobra had a tandem cockpit seating arrangement to make the aircraft a smaller frontal target, increased armor protection, and greater speed
5.
Boeing AH-64 Apache
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The Boeing AH-64 Apache is an American four-blade, twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a two-man crew. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night vision systems and it is armed with a 30 mm M230 chain gun carried between the main landing gear, under the aircrafts forward fuselage. It has four hardpoints mounted on stub-wing pylons, typically carrying a mixture of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, the AH-64 has a large amount of systems redundancy to improve combat survivability. The Apache originally started as the Model 77 developed by Hughes Helicopters for the United States Armys Advanced Attack Helicopter program to replace the AH-1 Cobra, the prototype YAH-64 was first flown on 30 September 1975. The U. S. Army selected the YAH-64 over the Bell YAH-63 in 1976, after purchasing Hughes Helicopters in 1984, McDonnell Douglas continued AH-64 production and development. The helicopter was introduced to U. S. Army service in April 1986, the first production AH-64D Apache Longbow, an upgraded Apache variant, was delivered to the Army in March 1997. Production has been continued by Boeing Defense, Space & Security, American AH-64s have served in conflicts in Panama, the Persian Gulf, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Israel used the Apache in its conflicts in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, British and Dutch Apaches have seen deployments in wars in Afghanistan. Following the cancellation of the AH-56 Cheyenne in 1972, in favor of projects like the U. S, the Army wanted an aircraft better than the AH-1 Cobra in firepower, performance and range. It would have the maneuverability for terrain following nap-of-the-earth flying, to this end, the U. S. Army issued a Request For Proposals for an Advanced Attack Helicopter on 15 November 1972. As a sign of the importance of project, in September 1973 the Army designated its five most important projects as the Big Five. Proposals were submitted by Bell, Boeing Vertol/Grumman team, Hughes, Lockheed, in July 1973, the U. S. Department of Defense selected finalists Bell and Hughes Aircrafts Toolco Aircraft Division. This began the phase 1 of the competition, each company built prototype helicopters and went through a flight test program. Hughes Model 77/YAH-64A prototype first flew on 30 September 1975, while Bells Model 409/YAH-63A prototype first flew on 1 October 1975, after evaluating the test results, the Army selected Hughes YAH-64A over Bells YAH-63A in 1976. Reasons for selecting the YAH-64A included its more damage tolerant four-blade main rotor, weapons and sensor systems were integrated and tested during this time, including the laser-guided AGM-114 Hellfire missile. In 1981, three pre-production AH-64As were handed over to the U. S. Army for Operational Test II, the Army testing was successful, but afterward it was decided to upgrade to the more powerful T700-GE-701 version of engine, rated at 1,690 shp. The AH-64 was named the Apache in late 1981, keeping with the Armys traditional use of American Indian tribal names for its helicopters, in 1983, the first production helicopter was rolled out at Hughes Helicopters facility at Mesa, Arizona. Hughes Helicopters was purchased by McDonnell Douglas for $470 million in 1984, the helicopter unit later became part of The Boeing Company with the merger of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas in August 1997
6.
Helicopter
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A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and these attributes allow helicopters to be used in congested or isolated areas where fixed-wing aircraft and many forms of VTOL aircraft cannot perform. English language nicknames for helicopter include chopper, copter, helo, heli, Helicopters were developed and built during the first half-century of flight, with the Focke-Wulf Fw 61 being the first operational helicopter in 1936. Some helicopters reached limited production, but it was not until 1942 that a helicopter designed by Igor Sikorsky reached full-scale production, with 131 aircraft built. Though most earlier designs used more than one rotor, it is the single main rotor with anti-torque tail rotor configuration that has become the most common helicopter configuration. Tandem rotor helicopters are also in use due to their greater payload capacity. Coaxial helicopters, tiltrotor aircraft, and compound helicopters are all flying today, quadcopter helicopters pioneered as early as 1907 in France, and other types of multicopter have been developed for specialized applications such as unmanned drones. The earliest references for vertical flight came from China, since around 400 BC, Chinese children have played with bamboo flying toys. This bamboo-copter is spun by rolling a stick attached to a rotor, the spinning creates lift, and the toy flies when released. The 4th-century AD Daoist book Baopuzi by Ge Hong reportedly describes some of the ideas inherent to rotary wing aircraft, designs similar to the Chinese helicopter toy appeared in Renaissance paintings and other works. In the 18th and early 19th centuries Western scientists developed flying machines based on the Chinese toy. It was not until the early 1480s, when Leonardo da Vinci created a design for a machine that could be described as an aerial screw, that any recorded advancement was made towards vertical flight. His notes suggested that he built flying models, but there were no indications for any provision to stop the rotor from making the craft rotate. As scientific knowledge increased and became accepted, people continued to pursue the idea of vertical flight. In July 1754, Russian Mikhail Lomonosov had developed a small coaxial modeled after the Chinese top but powered by a spring device. It was powered by a spring, and was suggested as a method to lift meteorological instruments. Sir George Cayley, influenced by a fascination with the Chinese flying top, developed a model of feathers, similar to that of Launoy and Bienvenu. By the end of the century, he had progressed to using sheets of tin for rotor blades and his writings on his experiments and models would become influential on future aviation pioneers
7.
Boeing CH-47 Chinook
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The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is an American twin-engine, tandem rotor heavy-lift helicopter. Its primary roles are troop movement, artillery placement and battlefield resupply and it has a wide loading ramp at the rear of the fuselage and three external ventral cargo hooks. With a top speed of 170 knots the helicopter was faster than contemporary 1960s utility helicopters and attack helicopters, the CH-47 is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters. Its name is from the Native American Chinook people, the Chinook was designed and initially produced by Boeing Vertol in the early 1960s, it is now produced by Boeing Rotorcraft Systems. It is one of the few aircraft of that era – along with the fixed-wing Lockheed C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft – that remain in production and frontline service, with over 1,200 built to date. The helicopter has been sold to 16 nations with the U. S. Army, in late 1956, the United States Department of the Army announced plans to replace the Sikorsky CH-37 Mojave, which was powered by piston engines, with a new, gas turbine-powered helicopter. Turbine engines were also a key feature of the smaller UH-1 Huey utility helicopter. Following a design competition, in September 1958, a joint Army–Air Force source selection board recommended that the Army procure the Vertol medium transport helicopter, however, funding for full-scale development was not then available, and the Army vacillated on its design requirements. Vertol began work on a new tandem-rotor helicopter designated Vertol Model 107 or V-107 in 1957, in June 1958, the U. S. Army awarded a contract to Vertol for the aircraft under the YHC-1A designation. The YHC-1A had a capacity for 20 troops, three were tested by the Army for deriving engineering and operational data. However, the YHC-1A was considered by most of the Army users to be too heavy for the assault role, the decision was made to procure a heavier transport helicopter and at the same time upgrade the UH-1 Huey as a tactical troop transport. The YHC-1A would be improved and adopted by the Marines as the CH-46 Sea Knight in 1962, the Army then ordered the larger Model 114 under the designation HC-1B. The pre-production Boeing Vertol YCH-1B made its initial hovering flight on 21 September 1961, in 1962 the HC-1B was redesignated the CH-47A under the 1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system. It was named Chinook for the Chinook people of the Pacific Northwest, the CH-47 is powered by two Lycoming T55 turboshaft engines, mounted on each side of the helicopters rear pylon and connected to the rotors by driveshafts. Initial models were fitted with engines rated at 2,200 horsepower each, the counter-rotating rotors eliminate the need for an anti-torque vertical rotor, allowing all power to be used for lift and thrust. The ability to adjust lift in either rotor makes it sensitive to changes in the center of gravity. If one engine fails, the other can drive both rotors, the sizing of the Chinook was directly related to the growth of the Huey and the Armys tacticians insistence that initial air assaults be built around the squad. The Army pushed for both the Huey and the Chinook, and this focus was responsible for the acceleration of its air mobility effort, improved and more powerful versions of the CH-47 have been developed since the helicopter entered service
8.
MD Helicopters MH-6 Little Bird
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The MH-6 Little Bird, and its attack variant AH-6, are light helicopters used for special operations in the United States Army. Originally based on a modified OH-6A, it was based on the MD 500E. The newest version, the MH-6M, is based on the MD 530F and has a single, six-bladed main rotor, twelve companies took part in the competition and Hughes Tool Companys Aircraft Division submitted the Model 369. Two designs, those submitted by Fairchild-Hiller and Bell, were selected as finalists by the design competition board. The first Model 369 prototype flew on 27 February 1963, originally designated the YHO-6A under the armys designation system, the aircraft was redesignated the YOH-6A under the Department of Defenses new joint system in 1962. In the end, Hughes won the competition and the Army awarded a contract for production in May 1965, the initial order was for 714 aircraft, but that was later increased to 1,300 with an option to buy another 114. Seventy helicopters were built in the first month and this agile, unarmed helicopter is outfitted with outboard benches designed to ferry up to three commandos on each side. There is also a variant, the AH-6. Painted black for nighttime operations, this aircraft can conduct rapid insertions and extractions of special operations forces into areas its larger brother. After the April 1980 failure of Operation Eagle Claw, it was determined that the US Army lacked aircraft, to remedy this shortcoming, the Army began developing a special aviation task force to prepare for the next attempt to rescue the hostages, Operation Credible Sport. Its missions have included attack, assault, and reconnaissance, and are conducted at night, at high speeds, low altitudes. The architects of the task force identified the need for a helicopter that could land in the most restrictive locations. They chose the OH-6A scout helicopter, and it known as the Little Bird compared to the other aircraft in the task force, the UH-60A. As a separate part of the project, armed OH-6As were being developed at Fort Rucker, when the training was completed, C-141 aircraft transported the aircraft and crews to Fort Huachuca, Arizona, for two weeks of mission training. The mission training consisted of loading onto C-130 transport aircraft which would transport them to forward staging areas over routes as long as 1,000 nautical miles. The armed OH-6 aircraft from Fort Rucker joined the program in the fall of 1980. Operation Credible Sport was a joint project of the U. S. military in the half of 1980 to prepare for a second rescue attempt of the hostages held in Iran. It was canceled after the hostages were released on 20 January 1981 and, for a short while, it looked as if the force would be disbanded
9.
Military helicopter
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A military helicopter is a helicopter that is either specifically built or converted for use by military forces. A military helicopters mission is a function of its design or conversion, specialized military helicopters are intended to conduct specific missions. Examples of specialized military helicopters are helicopters, observation helicopters. Military helicopters play a part in the sea, land. Generally manufacturers will develop airframes in different weight/size classes which can be adapted to different roles through the installation of specific equipment. For example, the UH-1 has given rise to a number of derivatives through stretching and re-engining, including the AH-1, the systems can be fitted to only those airframes that need it, or when finances allow the purchase of enough units. Most military helicopters are armoured to some extent however all equipment is limited to the power and lift capability. The most extensive armour is placed around the pilots, engines, transmission, fuel lines, control cables and power to the tail rotor may also be shrouded by Kevlar armour. The most heavily armoured helicopters are attack, assault and special forces helicopters, in transport helicopters the crew compartment may or may not be fully armoured, a compromise being to give the passengers Kevlar lined seats but to leave the compartment for the most part unarmoured. Survivability is enhanced by redundancy and the placement of components to each other. Aviation electronics, or avionics, such as radios and navigation aids are common on most military helicopters. Specialized avionics, such as electronic countermeasures and identification friend or foe systems, are military specific systems that can also be installed on military helicopters. For example, it has reported that the PRC is carrying out a rapid enlargement of its assault helicopter regiments with the civilian version of the Mil Mi-17. Allowing a widespread buildup of experience in helicopter operations, attack helicopters are helicopters used in the anti-tank and close air support roles. To enable them to find and identify their targets, some modern helicopters are equipped with very capable sensors such as a millimeter wave radar system. Attack helicopters Transport helicopters are used for transporting personnel and cargo in support of military operations, in larger militaries, these helicopters are often purpose-built for military operations, but commercially available aircraft are also used. The benefit of using helicopters for these operations is that personnel and cargo can be moved to and from locations without requiring a runway for takeoffs, cargo is carried either internally, or externally by slung load where the load is suspended from an attachment point underneath the aircraft. Personnel are primarily loaded and unloaded while the helicopter is on the ground, air assault is a military strategy that relies heavily on the use of transport helicopters
10.
Bell 206
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The Bell 206 is a family of two-bladed, single- or twin-engined helicopters, manufactured by Bell Helicopter at its Mirabel, Quebec plant. Originally developed as the Bell YOH-4 for the United States Armys Light Observation Helicopter program, Bell redesigned the airframe and successfully marketed the aircraft commercially as the five-place Bell 206A JetRanger. The new design was selected by the Army as the OH-58 Kiowa. The ICAO-assigned model designation B06 is used on plans for the JetRanger and LongRanger. On October 14,1960, the United States Navy solicited response from 25 aircraft manufacturers to a request for proposals on behalf of the Army for the Light Observation Helicopter, Bell entered the competition along with 12 other manufacturers, including Hiller Aircraft and Hughes Tool Co. Bell submitted the D-250 design, which would be designated as the YHO-4, on May 19,1961, Bell and Hiller were announced as winners of the design competition. Bell developed the D-250 design into the Bell 206 aircraft, redesignated as YOH-4A in 1962, the first prototype flew on December 8,1962. The YOH-4A also became known as the Ugly Duckling in comparison to the other contending aircraft, following a flyoff of the Bell, Hughes and Fairchild-Hiller prototypes, the Hughes OH-6 was selected in May 1965. When the YOH-4A was eliminated by the Army, Bell went about solving the problem of marketing the aircraft, in addition to the image problem, the helicopter lacked cargo space and only provided cramped quarters for the planned three passengers. The solution was a fuselage, sleeker and aesthetically appealing, adding 16 ft3 of cargo space in the process. A Bell executive contributed to this redesign by drawing on a sketch two lines extending the fuselage to where it meets the tail. The redesign was designated Bell 206A, and Bell President Edwin J. Ducayet named it the JetRanger, the 206L LongRanger is a stretched variant with seating for seven. The fuselage, stretched a total of 30 inches, adds two rear-facing seats between the front and rear seats, since 1975, Bell has produced more than 1,700 LongRangers across all variant types. In 1981, a version was released, the 206L TexasRanger. In both applications, the 250-C30P is derated from 650 hp for takeoff and 501 hp continuous, the 206L-3 is transmission–limited to 435 hp for take-off, and the 206L-4 is transmission-limited to 495 hp. The 206L-3 and L-4 have not been offered in a twin configuration under those model designations, in 2007, Bell announced an upgrade program for the 206L-1 and 206L-3 which is designed to modify the aircraft to the 206L-4 configuration, modified aircraft are designated 206L-1+ and 206L-3+. On January 24,2008, Bell Helicopter announced plans to end production of the Bell 206B-3 version after current order commitments were fulfilled in 2010, in 2011, used 206B-3s sold for around $1.4 million depending upon the equipment and configuration. However, production of the 206L-4 is ongoing as of 2016, the TwinRanger name dates from the mid-1980s when Bell developed the Bell 400 TwinRanger, but it never entered production
11.
Eurocopter UH-72 Lakota
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The Eurocopter UH-72 Lakota is a twin-engine helicopter with a single, four-bladed main rotor. The UH-72 is a version of the Eurocopter EC145 and was built by American Eurocopter. Initially marketed as the UH-145, the helicopter was selected as the winner of the United States Armys Light Utility Helicopter program on 30 June 2006. In October 2006, American Eurocopter was awarded a contract for 345 aircraft to replace ageing UH-1H/V. The US Armys LHX program began in the early 1980s, proposing two designs with a high percentage of commonality of dynamic components. One was a utility version for assault and tactical movement of troops and supplies. As the program was developed, the utility version was dropped and focus was placed on the light attack reconnaissance version. In 2004, the Department of Defense and the US Army made the decision to terminate the RAH-66 program, as part of the termination, the Army retained the future years funding intended for the Comanche. To replace the capability of the cancelled Comanche, the US Army planned several programs, the LUH contract was released in July 2005. At least five proposals were received, including Bells 210 and 412, MD Explorer, EADS North America marketed the UH-145 variant of the EC145 for the program. On 30 June 2006, the US Army announced that the UH-145 as the $3 billion LUH contracts winner, in August, the UH-145 was officially designated by the Department of Defense as the UH-72A. The award was confirmed in October 2006 following protests from losing bidders, the LUH marked EADS NAs largest DoD contract to date. On 23 August 2007, the UH-72A received full-rate production approval to produce a fleet of 345 aircraft through 2017. In December 2009, the service ordered 45 more UH-72As, the 100th Lakota was delivered in March 2010, and the 250th UH-72 was delivered in April 2013. That month, the US Army opted to halt procurement after 2014 due to cuts, at that point. In January 2014, Congress gave the Army $171 million to procure 20 additional UH-72As, the 300th UH-72 was delivered to the Army in May 2014. In May 2013, Congress questioned why the UH-72 had not been considered for the scout role. The Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno stated that the UH-72A was developed for operations and is not considered to be operationally deployable to combat zones
12.
Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk
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The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-bladed, twin-engine, medium-lift utility helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky submitted the S-70 design for the United States Armys Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System competition in 1972, the Army designated the prototype as the YUH-60A and selected the Black Hawk as the winner of the program in 1976, after a fly-off competition with the Boeing Vertol YUH-61. Named after the Native American war leader Black Hawk, the UH-60A entered service with the U. S. Army in 1979 and this was followed by the fielding of electronic warfare and special operations variants of the Black Hawk. Improved UH-60L and UH-60M utility variants have also been developed, Modified versions have also been developed for the U. S. Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. In addition to U. S. Army use, the UH-60 family has been exported to several nations, Black Hawks have served in combat during conflicts in Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Somalia, the Balkans, Afghanistan, and other areas in the Middle East. In the late 1960s, the United States Army began forming requirements for a helicopter to replace the UH-1 Iroquois, the Army also initiated the development of a new, common turbine engine for its helicopters that would become the General Electric T700. Based on experience in Vietnam, the Army required significant performance, the Army released its UTTAS request for proposals in January 1972. The RFP also included air transport requirements, Transport aboard the C-130 limited the UTTAS cabin height and length. Four prototypes were constructed, with the first YUH-60A flying on 17 October 1974, prior to delivery of the prototypes to the US Army, a preliminary evaluation was conducted in November 1975 to ensure the aircraft could be operated safely during all testing. Three of the prototypes were delivered to the Army in March 1976, for evaluation against the rival Boeing-Vertol design, the YUH-61A, the Army selected the UH-60 for production in December 1976. Deliveries of the UH-60A to the Army began in October 1978, after entering service, the helicopter was modified for new missions and roles, including mine laying and medical evacuation. An EH-60 variant was developed to conduct electronic warfare and special operations aviation developed the MH-60 variant to support its missions, due to weight increases from the addition of mission equipment and other changes, the Army ordered the improved UH-60L in 1987. The new model incorporated all of the made to the UH-60A fleet as standard design features. The UH-60L also featured more power and lifting capability with upgraded T700-GE-701C engines and its external lift capacity increased by 1,000 lb up to 9,000 lb. The UH-60L also incorporated the automatic control system from the SH-60 for better flight control due to handling issues with the more powerful engines. Production of the L-model began in 1989, Development of the next improved variant, the UH-60M, was approved in 2001, to extend the service life of the UH-60 design into the 2020s. The UH-60M incorporates upgraded T700-GE-701D engines, improved rotor blades, and state of the art electronic instrumentation, flight controls and aircraft navigation control. After the U. S. DoD approved low-rate initial production of the new variant, manufacturing began in 2006, after an initial operational evaluation, the Army approved full-rate production and a five-year contract for 1,227 helicopters in December 2007
13.
Surveillance aircraft
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A surveillance aircraft is an aircraft used for surveillance—collecting information over time. This article concentrates on aircraft used in roles, rather than for traffic monitoring, law enforcement. Surveillance aircraft usually carry no armament, or only limited defensive armament, a surveillance aircraft does not necessarily require high-performance capability or stealth characteristics. It may be a civilian aircraft. Surveillance aircraft have also included moored balloons and unmanned aerial vehicles, surveillance is sometimes grouped with Intelligence, Target acquisition and Reconnaissance under the title ISTAR. Observation was the used for surveillance when the main sensor was the human eye. In 1794, during the Battle of Fleurus, the French Aerostatic Corps balloon LEntreprenant remained afloat for nine hours. French officers used the balloon to observe the movements of the Austrian Army, dropping notes to the ground for collection by the French Army, and also signalled messages using semaphore. One of the first aircraft used for surveillance was the Rumpler Taube during World War I, the translucent wings of the plane made it very difficult for ground based observers to detect a Taube at an altitude above 400 m. The French also called this plane the Invisible Aircraft, and it is also referred to as the worlds very first stealth plane. German Taube aircraft were able to detect the advancing Russian army during the Battle of Tannenberg, during World War II, light aircraft such as the Auster were used as air observation posts. Officers from the British Royal Artillery were trained as pilots to fly AOP aircraft for artillery spotting, the air observation role was generally taken over by light observation helicopters, such as the Hughes OH-6 Cayuse, from the mid-1960s. Pre war, the British identified a need for an aircraft that could follow, to this end the slow-flying Airspeed Fleet Shadower and General Aircraft Fleet Shadower designs were built and flown in 1940 but they were made obsolete by the introduction of airborne radar. Spy flights were a source of contention between the US and Russia during most of the 1960s. Maritime patrol aircraft are typically large, slow machines capable of flying continuously for many hours, such aircraft include the Hawker-Siddeley Nimrod, the Breguet Atlantique, the Tupolev Tu-95, the Lockheed P-2 Neptune and the Lockheed P-3 Orion/CP-140 Aurora. Predator UAVs have been used by the US for border patrol, unmanned surveillance aircraft have been deployed or are under development in many countries, including Israel, the UK, the United States, Canada, China, India, South Africa and Pakistan. Unmanned surveillance UAVs include both airships—such as Sky Sentinel and HiSentinel 80—and airplanes, most air forces around the world lack dedicated surveillance planes. Several countries adapt aircraft for intelligence gathering
14.
General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle
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The General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle is a medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft system. It was developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems for the United States Army as an upgrade of the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator, the U. S. Army initiated the Extended-Range Multi-Purpose UAV competition in 2002, with the winning aircraft due to replace the RQ-5 Hunter. Two aircraft were entered, the IAI/Northrop Grumman Hunter II, in August 2005, the Army announced the Warrior to be the winner and awarded a $214 million contract for system development and demonstration. The Army intends to procure eleven Warrior systems, each of units has twelve UAVs. With an expected total program cost of $1 billion, the aircraft was to service in 2009. The Army sought to have the Warrior designated MQ-12, but the United States Department of Defense allocated the designation MQ-1C instead and it is planned to be operated by Task Force ODIN in Iraq and/or Afghanistan. In August 2010, the US Army announced that the MQ-1C had officially been assigned the name Gray Eagle. The Army announced on 3 September 2010 that the integration of the AGM-114 Hellfire missile on the UAV had been so successful that 4 weaponized MQ-1Cs would be deployed to Afghanistan in late 2010, in March 2011, Gray Eagles started showing poor reliability across all major subsystems. During that month, one Gray Eagle crashed in California when a faulty chip blocked commands to part of the flight control surfaces. The ground control stations time between failures is 27 hours, while the time required is 150 hours. Sensors fail at 134 hours, compared to 250 hours required, in October 2011, a report concluded the Gray Eagle was meeting only four out of seven key performance parameters, and its reliability fell short of predicted growth. 11 unplanned software revisions had generally improved reliability, reliability problems were attributed mostly to software issues from newly installed sensors, which did not reappear once fixed. Initial focus was on expanding capability and achieving an availability rate of 80 percent, on 27 July 2013, General Atomics announced the successful first flight of the Improved Gray Eagle. The IGE is designed for increased endurance, with 23 additional hours compared to its Block I predecessor and it has 50 percent greater fuel capacity through its deep belly fuselage and features 50 percent or more payload capacity. The upgraded centerline hardpoint supports integration of a 500-pound optional external fuel tank or 360 degree sensor payload, on 11 October 2013, the Improved Gray Eagle took off from GA-ASIs El Mirage Flight Operations Facility and flew for 45.3 continuous hours until 13 October. The flight was the first of two endurance demonstrations of the IGE for the U. S. Army, from 17–19 January 2014, the IGE performed its second endurance flight demonstration for the Army, flying 36.7 continuous hours. Unlike the previous test where no payload was carried, this test had the flying with a SIGINT pod on one wing. At that point, the only IGE demonstrator was lost in a training incident in early 2015
15.
IAI RQ-5 Hunter
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The IAI RQ-5 Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle was originally intended to serve as the United States Armys Short Range UAV system for division and corps commanders. It took off and landed on runways and it used a gimbaled EO/IR sensor to relay its video in real time via a second airborne Hunter over a C-band line-of-sight data link. The RQ-5 is based on the Hunter UAV that was developed by Israel Aircraft Industries, system acquisition and training started in 1994 but production was cancelled in 1996 due to concerns over program mismanagement. In 1995, A Company, 15th Military Intelligence Battalion out of Fort Hood, a Company conducted multiple successful training rotations to the National Training Center. Then in March 1999, they were deployed to the Republic of Macedonia in support of NATO operations in Kosovo, during the 7 month operation, the Hunter was flown over 4,000 hours. Significant operational success in Kosovo led to resumption of production and technical improvements, Hunter was used in Iraq and other military operations since then. The system was armed with the Viper Strike munitions. The Armys Unmanned Aircraft Systems Training Battalion at Fort Huachuca, AZ trained soldiers and civilians in the operation and maintenance of the Hunter UAV. In 2004, the United States Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, Office of Air, during this program, the Hunter flew 329 flight hours, resulting in 556 detections. A version armed with the Northrop Grumman GBU-44/B Viper Strike weapon system is known as the MQ-5A/B, as of October 2012, the U. S. Army had 20 MQ-5B Hunters in service. Retirement of the Hunter was expected to be completed in 2013, on 7 October 2013, the U. S. Army opened a UAS facility at Vilseck Army Airfield in Germany. Two unarmed MQ-5B Hunters were used solely for training drone operators, from 1996 to January 2014, the MQ-5B Hunter unmanned aerial system flew over 100,000 hours with the U. S. Army. On 16 December 2015, the Hunter flew its final flight in Army service at Fort Hood, since entering service in 1995, the aircraft had been deployed to the Balkans, Iraq, and Afghanistan. One capability unique to the Hunter was its relay mode that one aircraft to control another at extended ranges or over terrain obstacles. By the end of Operation New Dawn in 2011, Hunters had flown more than 110,000 hours, while Army operators transitioned to the larger and more capable MQ-1C Gray Eagle, the Hunter is being transferred to government-owned, contractor-operated units supporting operations overseas. In 1998 the Belgian Air Force purchased three B-Hunter UAV-systems, each consisting of six aircraft and two control stations. General characteristics Capacity, Payload,90 kg Length,7.01 m Wingspan,10.57 m Height,1
16.
AAI RQ-7 Shadow
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Launched from a trailer-mounted pneumatic catapult, it is recovered with the aid of arresting gear similar to jets on an aircraft carrier. Its gimbal-mounted, digitally stabilized, liquid nitrogen-cooled electro-optical/infrared camera relays video in real time via a C-band line-of-sight data link to the control station. The US Armys 2nd Battalion, 13th Aviation Regiment at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, trains soldiers, marines, the Shadow is operated in the U. S. Army at brigade-level. The RQ-7 Shadow is the result of a continued US Army search for an effective battlefield UAV after the cancellation of the Alliant RQ-6 Outrider aircraft, AAI Corporation followed up their RQ-2 Pioneer with the Shadow 200, a similar, more refined UAV. In late 1999, the selected the Shadow 200 to fill the tactical UAV requirement. Army requirements specified a UAV that used an engine, could carry an electro-optic/infrared imaging sensor turret. The Shadow 200 offered at least twice that range, powered by a 38 hp rotary engine, the specifications also dictated that UAV would be able to land in an athletic field. The RQ-7 Shadow 200 unmanned aerial vehicle is of a high-wing, constant chord pusher configuration with a twin-tailboom empennage, the aircraft is powered by a 38 bhp AR741-1101 Wankel engine designed and manufactured by UAV Engines Ltd in the United Kingdom. Onboard electrical systems are powered by a GEC/Plessey 28 volt, direct current,2,000 W generator, the aircraft has fixed tricycle landing gear. Takeoffs are assisted by a pneumatic launcher which can accelerate the 170 kg aircraft to 70 knots in 40 feet. Once on the ground, a tailhook mounted on the aircraft catches an arresting wire connected to two disk brake drums which can stop the aircraft in less than 170 feet. The aircraft is part of a system which currently uses the M1152-series of Humvees for ground transport of all ground. A Shadow 200 system consists of four aircraft, three of which are transported in the Air Vehicle Transporter, the fourth is transported in a specially designed storage container to be used as a spare. The AVT also tows the launcher, the AVT Support Vehicle and trailer contain extra equipment to launch and recover the aircraft, such as the Tactical Automatic Landing System. Maintenance equipment for the aircraft is stored in the Maintenance Section Multifunctional vehicle and trailer as well as the M1165 MSM Support Vehicle, two Humvee-mounted Ground Control Stations, also part of the Shadow 200 system, control the aircraft in flight. Each station has an associated Ground Data Terminal, which takes commands generated by the GCS, the GDT receives video imagery from the payload, as well as telemetry from the aircraft, and sends this information to the GCS. A trailer, towed by the M1165 GCS support vehicle, carries the GDT, the Shadow 200 system also includes a Portable Ground Control Station and Portable Ground Data Terminal, which are stripped-down versions of the GCS and GDT designed as a backup to the two GCSs. A fielded Shadow 200 system requires 22 soldiers to operate it, Army modelling indicates that crew workload is highest at takeoff, and second-highest at landing
17.
AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven
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The RQ-11 Raven was originally introduced as the FQM-151 in 1999, but in 2002 developed into its current form, resembling an enlarged FAI class F1C free flight model aircraft in general appearance. The craft is launched by hand and powered by a pusher configuration electric motor. The plane can fly up to 6.2 miles at altitudes of appx 500 feet above ground level, the U. S. Army deploys the Raven at company-level. The Raven RQ-11B UAV system is manufactured by AeroVironment and it was the winner of the US Armys SUAV program in 2005, and went into Full-Rate Production in 2006. Shortly afterwards, it was adopted by the US Marines. It has also adopted by the military forces of many other countries. More than 19,000 Raven airframes have been delivered to customers worldwide to date, a new Digital Data Link-enabled version of Raven now in production for US Forces and allies has improved endurance, among many other improvements. The Raven can be remotely controlled from the ground station or fly completely autonomous missions using GPS waypoint navigation. The UAV can be ordered to return to its launch point simply by pressing a single command button. Standard mission payloads include CCD color video cameras and a night vision camera. The RQ-11B Raven UAV weighs about 1.9 kg, has a endurance of 60–90 minutes. The RQ-11B Raven UAV is launched by hand, thrown into the air like a flight model airplane. The Raven lands itself by auto-piloting to a landing point. The UAV can provide day or night aerial intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, acting as communications nodes for ground forces has become an important function for UAVs, but has been restricted to larger platforms like the RQ-4 Global Hawk or RQ-21 Blackjack. Being certified for Secret classification and at just 25 cubic inches and weighing 18 oz, in August 2015, selected units began receiving upgrades to their Raven sensors. The Raven Gimbal is a camera with a 360-degree gimbal. The new camera can also be switched between day and night settings without landing and swapping sensors, future improvements include improving the durability of the solar panels and reducing their weight. Integration work is also being conducted on the AeroVironment Wasp and the RQ-20 Puma, the Raven is used by the United States Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Special Operations Command
18.
Cargo aircraft
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A cargo aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft that is designed or converted for the carriage of cargo rather than passengers. Such aircraft usually do not incorporate passenger amenities and generally one or more large doors for loading cargo. Freighters may be operated by passenger or cargo airlines, by private individuals or by the armed forces of individual countries. Cargo aircraft represent a small proportion of the air freight market. The majority is carried in special ULD containers in the holds of normal passenger aircraft. Aircraft were put to use carrying cargo in the form of air mail as early as 1911, although the earliest aircraft were not designed primarily as cargo carriers, by the mid-1920s aircraft manufacturers were designing and building dedicated cargo aircraft. The Vickers Vernon, a development of the Vickers Vimy Commercial, in February 1923 this was put to use by the RAFs Iraq Command who flew nearly 500 Sikh troops from Kingarban to Kirkuk in the first ever strategic airlift of troops. The Victorians also helped to pioneer air routes for Imperial Airways Handley Page HP.42 airliners, the World War II German design, the Arado Ar 232 was the first purpose built cargo aircraft. The Ar 232 was intended to supplant the earlier Junkers Ju 52 freighter conversions, most other forces used freighter versions of airliners in the cargo role as well, most notably the C-47 Skytrain version of the Douglas DC-3, which served with practically every Allied nation. This aircraft, like most of its era, used tail-dragger landing gear caused the aircraft to have a decided rearward tilt when landed. A similar rear loading ramp even appeared in a different form on the nosewheel gear-equipped. Postwar Europe also served to play a role in the development of the modern air cargo. To rapidly supply the numbers of aircraft, many older types. In operation it was found that it took as long or longer to unload these older designs as the much larger tricycle landing gear Douglas C-54 Skymaster which was easier to move about in when landed. The C-47s were quickly removed from service, and from then on flat-decks were a requirement of all new cargo designs, in the years following the war era a number of new custom-built cargo aircraft were introduced, often including some experimental features. For instance, the USs C-82 Packet featured a cargo area. Although larger, smaller and faster designs have been proposed for many years and these designs offer the ability to carry the heaviest loads, even main battle tanks, at global ranges. The Boeing 747 was originally designed to the specification as the C-5
19.
Beechcraft C-12 Huron
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The C-12 Huron is the military designation for a series of twin-engine turboprop aircraft based on the Beechcraft Super King Air and Beechcraft 1900. C-12 variants are used by the United States Air Force, United States Army, United States Navy and these aircraft are used for various duties, including embassy support, medical evacuation, as well as passenger and light cargo transport. Some aircraft are modified with surveillance systems for various missions, including the Cefly Lancer, Guardrail, the first C-12A models entered service with the U. S. Army in 1974 and were used as a liaison and general personnel transport. The aircraft was essentially an off-the-shelf Super King Air 200, powered by the types standard Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-41 engines, the cabin can readily accommodate cargo, passengers or both. It is also equipped to accept litter patients in medical evacuation missions, through 1982, the Navy ordered 64 of these aircraft. A U. S. Air Force variant of the plane for surveillance roles primarily over Afghanistan, as of 2013 the Liberty program had exceeded 300,000 combat flying hours. With its roles taken over by the growing MQ-9 Reaper fleet, Special Operations Command, which was completed by October 2015. The Air Forces final MC-12W deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom ended on 13 October 2015, to meet the needs of transporting larger groups, the U. S. Army purchased six C-12J aircraft, based on the Beechcraft 1900C commuter airliner. One of the military C-12Js is used for GPS jamming tests at the 586th Flight Test Squadron, Holloman Air Force Base, another is based at the 517th Airlift Squadron, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. Three were based at the 55th Airlift Flight, Osan Air Base and they have been relocated to the 459th Airlift Squadron, Yokota Air Base, Japan. The remaining two are used by U. S. Army Aviation, C-12A Used by the U. S. Army for liaison and attache transport. Based on the King Air A200, Marine Corps version with an additional cargo door. Based on the King Air A200C, nC-12B U. S. Navy single-aircraft version, UC-12B BuNo 161311 equipped with four P-3C type Sonobuoy launchers. TC-12B U. S. Navy training version developed by conversion of UC-12B airframes, c-12C U. S. Army and U. S. Air Force version of the C-12A with upgraded engines. Based on the King Air A200, c-12D U. S. Army and U. S. Air Force version. Based on the King Air A200CT, changes include larger cargo door, rC-12D Special mission, SIGINT aircraft for the U. S. Army. UC-12D Based on the King Air A200CT, c-12E Upgraded C-12A aircraft for the USAF. 29 C-12As were retro-fitted with two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-42 turboprop engines, C-12F U. S. Air Force transport version
20.
Gulfstream III
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The Gulfstream III, a business jet produced by Gulfstream Aerospace, is an improved variant of the Grumman Gulfstream II. The Gulfstream III was built at Savannah, Georgia in the United States and was designed as a variant of the Grumman Gulfstream II. Design studies were performed by Grumman Aerospace Corporation in collaboration with Gulfstream American Corporation, design of the Gulfstream III started with an effort to synthesize a completely new wing employing NASA supercritical airfoil sections and winglets. As a result, the new wing concept was canceled and work began on design modifications that would retain the Gulfstream II wing box structure and trailing edge surfaces. Compared to the G-1159 Gulfstream II, the wing has 6 ft more span and 5 ft winglets added, the fuselage is 2 ft longer aft of the main door, the radome is extended and there is a new curved windshield. Maximum takeoff weight is increased to 68,200 lb or 69,700 lb and there are changes to the autopilot, flight instruments. The aircraft received its type certificate from the American Federal Aviation Administration on 22 September 1980, a total of 202 Gulfstream IIIs were built, with the last example built in 1986. In 2013, the FAA modified 14 CFR part 91 rules to prohibit the operation of jets weighing 75,000 pounds or less that are not stage 3 noise compliant after December 31,2015, the Gulfstream III is listed explicitly in Federal Register 78 FR39576. 14 CFR §91.883 Special flight authorizations for jet airplanes weighing 75,000 pounds or less - lists special flight authorizations that may be granted for operation after December 31,2015. Model G-1159A Gulfstream III - Two or three-crew executive, corporate transport aircraft, Gulfstream III SMA-3 - Export model for Denmark, fitted with a Texas Instruments APS-127 search radar. Three maritime reconnaissance and patrol, fisheries protection, search and rescue, a NASA Gulfstream III has also been fitted with a centerline pylon to allow it to carry the AIRMOSS pod, a modification of the UAVSAR pod. The Phoenix Air Group operates two former Royal Danish Air Force SMA-3 aircraft and a Gulfstream III, All three are configured with a large cargo door. In 2008 Phoenix Air developed an Airborne Biomedical Containment System with the CDC, in 2014, the system was deployed during the Ebola virus epidemic in Liberia to fly 12 ebola missions to the United States. N30LX has been modified by the addition of a ventral canoe and this has been leased by Italy since 2012. Calspan operates N710CF, which has been modified as an airborne test bed, the Gulfstream III from RDAF - Royal Danish Air Force was destroyed killing all nine people on board, including the Danish Chief of Defence Jørgen Garde. Takeoff weight,69,700 lb Powerplant,2 × Rolls-Royce Spey RB, Janes Civil and Military Aircraft Upgrades 1994–95. Taylor, John W. R. Janes All The Worlds Aircraft 1982–83, media related to Gulfstream III at Wikimedia Commons
21.
Short C-23 Sherpa
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The Short C-23 Sherpa is a small military transport aircraft built by Short Brothers. The C-23A and C-23B are variants of the Short 330 and the C-23B+ is a variant of the Short 360, the Short 330 was developed by Short Brothers of Belfast from their earlier Short Skyvan STOL utility transport. The 330 entered commercial service in 1976, in addition to the passenger aircraft, Shorts also planned two freight versions. The Short 330-UTT was a transport version fitted with a strengthened cabin floor and paratroop doors, which was sold in small numbers, primarily to Thailand. The Short Sherpa was a freighter fitted with a rear cargo door/ramp. This version first flew on 23 December 1982, with the first order for 18 aircraft being placed by the United States Air Force in March 1983. These aircraft were assigned to Military Airlift Command for the European Distribution System Aircraft role, flying cargo, in U. S. military service, the Short 330 was designated C-23A Sherpa. The C-23B Sherpa was similar to the C-23A, but with cabin windows, the C-23B+ Short 360 derivative was created by replacing the rear fuselage of Short 360s obtained on the second-hand market with the twin tail and rear loading ramp of the Short Sherpa. The C-23 was produced at the Short Brothers facility in Belfast, the C-23A Sherpa entered service with the United States Air Force in Europe in 1985 based at Zweibrücken Air Base. It continued in use in the EDSA role until November 1990 with the war force reductions. The Test Pilot School aircraft were retired in 1997, the eight former USAF aircraft were used for test duties at different units, two were re-designated as JC-23A. The Army purchased four civil Short 330 aircraft to replace the DHC C-7 Caribou being used to support the Kwajalein Missile Range and these were not given a C-23 designation, and were retired in 1992. In 1988, the Army ordered ten new-build Short 330s designated C-23B to replace the DHC C-7 Caribou used by the U. S. Army National Guard Aviation, in 1990, a further six were ordered. When the Army wanted 20 more C-23s in 1990 the production line had closed, designated the C-23B+, these were modified from the original single tail to the twin-tail and cargo ramp of the other C-23Bs. In 1994, another eight aircraft were converted to replace the DHC UV-18 Twin Otters used in Alaska, during Iraq War, the C-23 served the Armys intra-theater needs of cargo and personnel transport. It provided an alternative for transporting some 20 people or three pallets of cargo when speed was not critical. As part of the U. S. Armys Constant Hawk intelligence gathering program, five Short 360s were modified for use in Iraq, a further two modified aircraft collided in mid-air before delivery to Iraq. The Constant Hawk aircraft were not given a military designation, on 13 June 2007, the Alenia C-27J was selected to replace the C-23 in U. S. Army service
22.
Fairchild C-26 Metroliner
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The Fairchild C-26 Metroliner is the designation for the Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner series twin turboprop aircraft in the service of the United States military. It was not officially named by the US Armed Forces, but is known by the same name as its civilian counterpart. The United States Air Force bought eleven C-26A aircraft based on the SA227-AC, the first three C-26Bs were procured later in the 1980s, two for the US Army and one for the USAF. These three had built as SA227-BC models. Later C-26Bs were the equivalent of the Metro 23 and the USAF took delivery of 37 examples. Some of these were transferred to the Peruvian Air Force and the US Army, the US Army also took a second-hand Merlin IVC and operated it as the solitary UC-26C. A Metro III, c/n AC-614, was modified as the Fairchild Aircraft/Lockheed Multi Mission Surveillance Aircraft, several aspects of the MMSA aircraft were incorporated on some USAF C-26s redesignated as the RC-26B, operated by the Air National Guard in various states. The RC-26B aircraft were configured with a belly pod containing a sensor turret. Recently, this pod has been removed and a sensor turret has been added to the belly of the aircraft, some of the RC-26Bs were operated for a time with civil registrations. The US Navy operates several C-26D aircraft, modified for range support, C-26A Military version of the Metro III. C-26B Military version of the Metro III and Metro 23, RC-26B C-26B modified with electronic surveillance equipment for drug interdiction missions. UC-26C Was a used 1983-built Merlin IVC operated for years as 89-1471. Modified with a sensor package including forward-looking infrared and high resolution radar. C-26D C-26Bs transferred from USAF inventory and modified with new equipment for the US Navy, four used for rapid response cargo. EC-26D One range support aircraft operated by the US Navys Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands, rC-26D Two range support aircraft operated by the US Navys Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands with installed radar units. C-26E Upgrade of 11 C-26B aircraft including an improved Rockwell Collins Proline 21 Electronic Flight Instrument System.83 ft Max
23.
Gulfstream V
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The Gulfstream V is a long-range, large business jet aircraft produced by Gulfstream Aerospace, derived from the previous Gulfstream IV. It flies up to Mach 0.90, up to 51,000 feet and has a 6,500 nautical miles range and it typically accommodates four crew and 14 passengers. It first flew on November 28,1995, and entered service in June 1997 and it is used by the US military under the designation C-37A. It is followed by a version, the Gulfstream 550. The Gulfstream V was certified on April 11,1997, compared to the Gulfstream IV, the engines are changed from Rolls-Royce Tay to Rolls-Royce BR700-710A1-10 with increased thrust, higher bypass ratio, and Full Authority Digital Engine Controls. Operating ceiling is increased from 45,000 ft to 51,000 ft and it has thrust reversers and composite flight control surfaces. The horizontal tail area is 30% larger, wingspan is increased from 74.6 ft to 93.5 ft, the fuselage is lengthened by 5 foot forward of the entry door. Maximum takeoff and landing weights are increased by 15%, capable to fly up to 6,500 nmi, it rolled out in 1995 and was Gulfstreams first ultra-long range business jet. Total production of the Gulfstream V was 193 aircraft, designated C-37A in U. S. Air Force service, the Gulfstream V is used by government and Defense Department officials. The US Coast Guard operates two C-37A for transportation of the Department of Homeland Security Secretary and the Commandant of the Coast Guard, the US Navy operates one C-37A. The aircraft has a management system with a worldwide satellite-based Global Positioning System. The C-37A is capable of cruising at 51,000 feet, features include enhanced weather radar, autopilot and head-up display for the pilot. Safety features include Enhanced Vision Systems that allows increased visibility in adverse environments, the aircraft is also equipped with commercial and military communications equipment to provide secure voice and data capability. The U. S. Air Force equips the C-37A with a crew of two pilots, one flight engineer, one communications systems operator, and one flight attendant. It accommodates 5 crew and 12 passengers, the majority of G-Vs are operated by corporate and individual owners. Mark Cuban paid $40 million for a Gulfstream V in October 1999, steve Jobs received a Gulfstream V as compensation from Apple in 2000. Algeria Algerian Air Force operates the Gulfstream V for VIP transport Greece Hellenic Air Force operates one Gulfstream V for VIP transport, israel A Special Electronic Mission Aircraft, based on a highly modified Gulfstream G-V aircraft, was delivered to the Israeli Ministry of Defense in June 2005. Japan Japan Coast Guard received the first of two G-Vs on January 17,2005, dubbed Umi Washi, the aircraft will be operated by the JCG for maritime surveillance search and rescue
24.
United States Army Air Corps
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The United States Army Air Corps was the military aviation arm of the United States of America between 1926 and 1941. The USAAC was renamed from the earlier United States Army Air Service on 2 July 1926, the Air Corps became the United States Army Air Forces on 20 June 1941, giving it greater autonomy from the Armys middle-level command structure. The separation of the Air Corps from control of its combat units caused problems of unity of command that became more acute as the Air Corps enlarged in preparation for World War II. This was resolved by the creation of the Army Air Forces, the U. S. Army Air Service had a brief but turbulent history. In early 1926 the Military Affairs Committee of the Congress rejected all bills set forth before it on both sides of the issue. They fashioned a compromise in which the findings of the Morrow Board were enacted as law, while providing the air arm a five-year plan for expansion and development. The legislation changed the name of the Air Service to the Air Corps, thereby strengthening the conception of military aviation as an offensive, the Air Corps Act became law on 2 July 1926. Two additional brigadier generals would serve as assistant chiefs of the Air Corps, previous provisions of the National Defense Act of 1920 that all flying units be commanded only by rated personnel and that flight pay be awarded were continued. The Air Corps also retained the Prop and Wings as its branch insignia through its disestablishment in 1947, patrick became Chief of the Air Corps and Brig. Gen. James E. Fechet continued as his first assistant chief. The Air Corps Act of 2 July 1926 effected no fundamental innovation, the change in designation meant no change in status, the Air Corps was still a combatant branch of the Army with less prestige than the Infantry. The Air Corps Act gave authorization to carry out an expansion program. However, a lack of appropriations caused the beginning of the program to be delayed until 1 July 1927. The act authorized expansion to 1,800 airplanes,1,650 officers, none of the goals were reached by July 1932. Organizationally the Air Corps doubled from seven to fifteen groups, but the expansion was meaningless because all were seriously understrength in aircraft and pilots. Air Corps groups added 1927–1937 ¹Inactivated on 20 May 1937 ²Redesignated 17th Attack Group, 17th Bomb Group As units of the Air Corps increased in number, so did higher command echelons. The 1st Bomb Wing was activated in 1931, followed by the 3rd Attack Wing in 1932 to protect the Mexican border, the three wings became the foundation of General Headquarters Air Force upon its activation in 1935. In 1927 the Air Corps adopted a new scheme for painting its aircraft. The wings and tails of aircraft were painted yellow, with the words U. S
25.
United States Army Air Forces
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Each of these forces had a commanding general who reported directly to the Army Chief of Staff. S. Army to control its own installations and support personnel, the peak size of the AAF during the Second World War was over 2.4 million men and women in service and nearly 80,000 aircraft by 1944, and 783 domestic bases in December 1943. By V-E Day, the Army Air Forces had 1.25 million men stationed overseas, in its expansion and conduct of the war, the AAF became more than just an arm of the greater organization. By the end of World War II, the Army Air Forces had become virtually an independent service and this contrast between theory and fact is. fundamental to an understanding of the AAF. Gen. Billy Mitchell that led to his later court-martial, a strategy stressing precision bombing of industrial targets by heavily armed, long-range bombers emerged, formulated by the men who would become its leaders. Since 1920, control of units had resided with commanders of the corps areas. Both were created in 1933 when a conflict with Cuba seemed possible following a coup détat. Activation of GHQ Air Force represented a compromise between strategic airpower advocates and ground force commanders who demanded that the Air Corps mission remain tied to that of the land forces. GHQ Air Force organized combat groups administratively into a force of three wings deployed to the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts but was small in comparison to European air forces. Corps area commanders continued to control over airfields and administration of personnel. The expected activation of Army General Headquarters prompted Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall to request a study from Chief of the Air Corps Maj. Gen. Henry H. Arnold resulting on 5 October 1940 in a proposal for creation of an air staff, unification of the air arm under one commander, and equality with the ground and supply forces. Marshall implemented a compromise that the Air Corps found entirely inadequate, naming Arnold as acting Deputy Chief of Staff for Air but rejecting all organizational points of his proposal. GHQ Air Force instead was assigned to the control of Army General Headquarters, although the latter was a training and not an operational component, when it was activated in November 1940. A division of the GHQ Air Force into four air defense districts on 19 October 1940 was concurrent with the creation of air forces to defend Hawaii. The air districts were converted in March 1941 into numbered air forces with an organization of 54 groups. Marshall had come to the view that the air forces needed a simpler system, Arnold and Marshall agreed that the AAF would enjoy a general autonomy within the War Department until the end of the war, while its commanders would cease lobbying for independence. Marshall, a proponent of airpower, left understood that the Air Force would likely achieve its independence following the war
26.
United States Air Force
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The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a branch of the military on 18 September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947. It is the most recent branch of the U. S. military to be formed, the U. S. Air Force is a military service organized within the Department of the Air Force, one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense. The Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force, who reports to the Secretary of Defense, the U. S. Air Force provides air support for surface forces and aids in the recovery of troops in the field. As of 2015, the service more than 5,137 military aircraft,406 ICBMs and 63 military satellites. It has a $161 billion budget with 313,242 active duty personnel,141,197 civilian employees,69,200 Air Force Reserve personnel, and 105,500 Air National Guard personnel. According to the National Security Act of 1947, which created the USAF and it shall be organized, trained, and equipped primarily for prompt and sustained offensive and defensive air operations. The stated mission of the USAF today is to fly, fight, and win in air, space and we will provide compelling air, space, and cyber capabilities for use by the combatant commanders. We will excel as stewards of all Air Force resources in service to the American people, while providing precise and reliable Global Vigilance, Reach and it should be emphasized that the core functions, by themselves, are not doctrinal constructs. The purpose of Nuclear Deterrence Operations is to operate, maintain, in the event deterrence fails, the US should be able to appropriately respond with nuclear options. Dissuading others from acquiring or proliferating WMD, and the means to deliver them, moreover, different deterrence strategies are required to deter various adversaries, whether they are a nation state, or non-state/transnational actor. Nuclear strike is the ability of forces to rapidly and accurately strike targets which the enemy holds dear in a devastating manner. Should deterrence fail, the President may authorize a precise, tailored response to terminate the conflict at the lowest possible level, post-conflict, regeneration of a credible nuclear deterrent capability will deter further aggression. Finally, the Air Force regularly exercises and evaluates all aspects of operations to ensure high levels of performance. Nuclear surety ensures the safety, security and effectiveness of nuclear operations, the Air Force, in conjunction with other entities within the Departments of Defense or Energy, achieves a high standard of protection through a stringent nuclear surety program. The Air Force continues to pursue safe, secure and effective nuclear weapons consistent with operational requirements, adversaries, allies, and the American people must be highly confident of the Air Forces ability to secure nuclear weapons from accidents, theft, loss, and accidental or unauthorized use. This day-to-day commitment to precise and reliable nuclear operations is the cornerstone of the credibility of the NDO mission, positive nuclear command, control, communications, effective nuclear weapons security, and robust combat support are essential to the overall NDO function. OCA is the method of countering air and missile threats, since it attempts to defeat the enemy closer to its source
27.
Taylorcraft L-2
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The Taylorcraft L-2 Grasshopper is an American observation and liaison aircraft built by Taylorcraft for the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. In 1941 the United States Army Air Forces ordered four Taylorcraft Model Ds with the designation YO-57 and they were evaluated in the summer of 1941 during maneuvers in Louisiana and Texas where they were used for support purposes such as light transport and courier. General Innis P. Swift, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division and this led to a production order under the designation O-57 Grasshopper. In March 1942, the designation was changed to L-2 Grasshopper, postwar, a number of L-2s were converted for civilian use and are operated by private pilot owners in the United States as the Model DCO-65. Several are still airworthy in 2011, the L-2 series meet the standards for Light Sport Aircraft, thus can be flown by pilots holding the Sport Pilot Certificate. YO-57 Military version of the Taylorcraft Model D, four for evaluation with a 65hp YO-170-3 and tandem seating, O-57 Production version with minor changes and a 65hp O-170-3 engine and tandem seating,20 built, re-designated L-2 in 1942. O-57A O-57 with modified cabin and military radios and a seat that could face backwards,336 built, re-designated L-2A L-2 O-57 re-designated in 1942. L-2A O-57A re-designated in 1942, a further 140 built, l-2B L-2A with modifications for artillery spotting with a 65hp Continental A65-8 engine and tandem seating,490 built. L-2C13 Taylorcraft Model DC65 with tandem seating, impressed into Army service, l-2D One Taylorcraft Model DL65 with tandem seating, impressed into Army service. L-2E Two impressed Taylorcaft Model DF65s with a 65hp Franklin 4AC-176-B2, L-2F Seven impressed Taylorcraft Model BL65s with side-by-side seating and a 65hp O-145-B1 engine, one originally designated UC-95. L-2G Two impressed Taylorcraft Model BFs with side-by-side seating and a 50hp Franklin 4AC-150-50 engine, l-2H Nine impressed Taylorcraft Model BC12-65s with side-by-side seating and a 65hp Continental A65-7 engine. L-2J Five impressed Taylorcraft Model BL12-65s with side-by-side seating and a 65hp O-145-B1 engine, l-2K Four impressed Taylorcraft Model BF12-65s with side-by-side seating and a 65hp Franklin 4AC-176-B2 engine. L-2L Single impressed Taylorcraft Model BF60 with side-by-side seating and a 60hp Franklin 4AC-171 engine, l-2M L-2A with close-fitting engine cowls and wing spoilers and tandem seating,900 built. TG-6 Model ST.100 three-seat training glider variant with enlarged fin area, wing spoilers, lNT-1 U. S. Navy version of TG-6 UC-95 One impressed Taylorcraft Model BL65s with side-by-side seating and a 65hp O-145-B1 engine, re-designated L-2F. O. Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, US Army Air Forces, l-Birds, American Combat Liaison Aircraft of World War II. New Brighton, MN, Flying Books International, L-2 page at the National Museum of the United States Air Force L-2 page at Warbird Alley www. als-cannonfield. com - operates restored L-2s
28.
Korean War
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The Korean War began when North Korea invaded South Korea. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, China came to the aid of North Korea, and the Soviet Union gave some assistance. Korea was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the days of World War II. In August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, as a result of an agreement with the United States, U. S. forces subsequently moved into the south. By 1948, as a product of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, Korea was split into two regions, with separate governments, both governments claimed to be the legitimate government of all of Korea, and neither side accepted the border as permanent. The conflict escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces—supported by the Soviet Union, on that day, the United Nations Security Council recognized this North Korean act as invasion and called for an immediate ceasefire. On 27 June, the Security Council adopted S/RES/83, Complaint of aggression upon the Republic of Korea and decided the formation, twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force, with the United States providing 88% of the UNs military personnel. After the first two months of war, South Korean forces were on the point of defeat, forced back to the Pusan Perimeter, in September 1950, an amphibious UN counter-offensive was launched at Inchon, and cut off many North Korean troops. Those who escaped envelopment and capture were rapidly forced back north all the way to the border with China at the Yalu River, at this point, in October 1950, Chinese forces crossed the Yalu and entered the war. Chinese intervention triggered a retreat of UN forces which continued until mid-1951, after these reversals of fortune, which saw Seoul change hands four times, the last two years of fighting became a war of attrition, with the front line close to the 38th parallel. The war in the air, however, was never a stalemate, North Korea was subject to a massive bombing campaign. Jet fighters confronted each other in combat for the first time in history. The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when an armistice was signed, the agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no treaty has been signed, and the two Koreas are technically still at war. Periodic clashes, many of which are deadly, continue to the present, in the U. S. the war was initially described by President Harry S. Truman as a police action as it was an undeclared military action, conducted under the auspices of the United Nations. In South Korea, the war is referred to as 625 or the 6–2–5 Upheaval. In North Korea, the war is referred to as the Fatherland Liberation War or alternatively the Chosǒn War. In China, the war is called the War to Resist U. S
29.
Vietnam War
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It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam. The war is considered a Cold War-era proxy war. As the war continued, the actions of the Viet Cong decreased as the role. U. S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery, in the course of the war, the U. S. conducted a large-scale strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnam. The North Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong were fighting to reunify Vietnam and they viewed the conflict as a colonial war and a continuation of the First Indochina War against forces from France and later on the United States. The U. S. government viewed its involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam and this was part the domino theory of a wider containment policy, with the stated aim of stopping the spread of communism. Beginning in 1950, American military advisors arrived in what was then French Indochina, U. S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with troop levels tripling in 1961 and again in 1962. Regular U. S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965, despite the Paris Peace Accord, which was signed by all parties in January 1973, the fighting continued. In the U. S. and the Western world, a large anti-Vietnam War movement developed as part of a larger counterculture, the war changed the dynamics between the Eastern and Western Blocs, and altered North–South relations. Direct U. S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973, the capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese Army in April 1975 marked the end of the war, and North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year. The war exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities, estimates of the number of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed vary from 966,000 to 3.8 million. Some 240, 000–300,000 Cambodians,20, 000–62,000 Laotians, and 58,220 U. S. service members died in the conflict. Various names have applied to the conflict. Vietnam War is the most commonly used name in English and it has also been called the Second Indochina War and the Vietnam Conflict. As there have been several conflicts in Indochina, this conflict is known by the names of its primary protagonists to distinguish it from others. In Vietnamese, the war is known as Kháng chiến chống Mỹ. It is also called Chiến tranh Việt Nam, France began its conquest of Indochina in the late 1850s, and completed pacification by 1893. The 1884 Treaty of Huế formed the basis for French colonial rule in Vietnam for the seven decades
30.
Billy Mitchell
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William Billy Mitchell was a United States Army general who is regarded as the father of the United States Air Force. Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflicts end, after the war, he was appointed deputy director of the Air Service and began advocating increased investment in air power, believing that this would prove vital in future wars. He argued particularly for the ability of bombers to sink battleships and he resigned from the service shortly afterward. Mitchell received many honors following his death, including a commission by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a major general and he is also the only individual for whom an American military aircraft design, the North American B-25 Mitchell, is named. Born in Nice, France, to John L. Mitchell, Mitchell grew up on an estate in what is now the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis, Wisconsin. His grandfather, Alexander Mitchell, a Scotsman, established what became the Milwaukee Road railroad, Mitchell Park and the shopping precinct of Mitchell Street were named in honor of Alexander. Mitchells sister Ruth fought with the Chetniks in Yugoslavia during World War II and later wrote a book about her brother, Billy Mitchell graduated from Columbian College of George Washington University, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity. He then enlisted as a private at age 18 in Company M of the 1st Wisconsin Infantry Regiment on May 14,1898, quickly gaining a commission due to his fathers influence, he joined the U. S. Army Signal Corps. Following the cessation of hostilities, Mitchell remained in the Army and he predicted as early as 1906, while an instructor at the Armys Signal School in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, that future conflicts would take place in the air, not on the ground. A member of one of Milwaukees most prominent families, Billy Mitchell was probably the first person with ties to Wisconsin to see the Wright Brothers plane fly, in 1908, when a young Signal Corps officer, Mitchell observed Orville Wrights flying demonstration at Fort Myer, Virginia. Mitchell took flight lessons at the Curtiss Aviation School at Newport News, from 1900 to 1904, Mitchell was posted in the District of Alaska as a lieutenant in the Signal Corps. Brunnell, Lieutenant Mitchell oversaw the construction of what became known as the Washington-Alaska Military Cable, ironically, he appeared in August 1913 at legislative hearings considering a bill to make Army aviation a branch separate from the Signal Corps and testified against the bill. In June, he took flying lessons at the Glenn Curtiss Aviation School because he was proscribed by law from aviator training by age and rank. In July 1916, he was promoted to major and appointed Chief of the Air Service of the First Army, when the United States declared war on Germany on April 6,1917, Mitchell was in Spain en route to France as an observer. On April 24, he made the first flight by an American officer over German lines, before long, Mitchell had gained enough experience to begin preparations for American air operations. Mitchell rapidly earned a reputation as a daring, flamboyant, in May, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. He was promoted to the rank of colonel on October 10,1917 to rank from August 5. In September 1918, he planned and led nearly 1,500 British, French and he was elevated to the rank of brigadier general on October 14,1918 and commanded all American air combat units in France
31.
Camp Beauregard
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For the American Civil War site, see Camp Beauregard Memorial in Water Valley. Camp Beauregard is a U. S. Army installation located northeast of Pineville, Louisiana, primarily in Rapides Parish and it is operated by the Louisiana National Guard as one of their main training areas. The current base covers 12,500 acres and is home to different units and elements of the Louisiana Army National Guard. The camp was named for Louisiana native and Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, the beginnings of the existing post date back to 1917, when the War Department authorized the building of more than thirty camps around the country to train troops for World War I. The 17th Division was organized in 1918 as a National Army division for World War I, the 17th Division included the 33rd Infantry Brigade, with the 5th and 83rd Regiments, and the 34th Brigade with the 29th and 84th Regiments. The 5th Infantry Regiment was assigned on 27 July 1918 to the 17th Division, the 17th Division was intended to be a replacement and school division. The 17th Division did not go overseas and demobilized in February 1919 at Camp Beauregard, in 1919, the camp was abandoned and given to the state. During that brief time, Alexandria, Louisiana businessman Morgan W. Walker, Sr. started a taxi, the operation eventually led to the formation of Continental Trailways Bus lines. In 1940, Camp Beauregard was returned to the U. S. government for use as a World War II training area, during this time period Beauregard became very busy. The area had been effectively deforested in previous years and was unusable for agriculture and that fact and the hot, muggy weather made this a logical location for training American troops in preparation for East-Asian war efforts. Two-thirds of the U. S. military rotated through these war games, a large part of the State of Louisiana, centered on these large camps, became almost an occupied territory. After World War II, the camp was returned to the state, in 1973, the camp was reactivated, and became one of the premier military training areas in Louisiana. Since then, most of the old buildings have either been torn down or remodeled, the 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Louisiana Army National Guard often makes use of the Camps training and lodging facilities. The 225th Engineer Brigade, the largest engineer group in the army, has its headquarters in Camp Beauregard, the 199th Regiment is headquartered in Camp Beauregard as well. The Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections operated the J. Levy Dabadie Correctional Center adjacent to the Louisiana National Guard base on the camp property, until it closed in July 2012. The Marshals Service Tactical Operations Center maintains a small, full-time operational cadre of its Special Operations Group
32.
United States Secretary of War
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The Secretary of War was a member of the United States Presidents Cabinet, beginning with George Washingtons administration. A similar position, called either Secretary at War or Secretary of War, had appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation between 1781 and 1789. Benjamin Lincoln and later Henry Knox held the position, when Washington was inaugurated as the first president under the Constitution, he appointed Knox to continue serving. The Secretary of War was the head of the War Department, at first, he was responsible for all military affairs, including naval affairs. In 1798, the Secretary of the Navy was created by statute, from 1886 onward, the Secretary of War was third in the line of succession to the presidency, after the Vice President of the United States and the Secretary of State. The office of Secretary at War was modelled upon Great Britains Secretary at War, the office of Secretary at War was meant replaced both the Commander-in-Chief and the Board of War, and like the President of the Board, the Secretary wore no special insignia. The Inspector General, Quartermaster General, Commissary General, and Adjutant General served on the Secretarys staff, however, the Army itself under Secretary Henry Knox only consisted of 700 men. Parties No party Federalist Democratic-Republican Democratic Whig Republican Confederate States Secretary of War Bell, commanding Generals and Chiefs of Staff 1775-2005, Portraits and Biographical Sketches. United States Army Center of Military History, encyclopedia of the United States Cabinet 1789-2010. Charlottesville, Virginia, The Judge Advocate Generals School, U. S. Army
33.
L-4 Grasshopper
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The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1937 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low speed handling properties, the Cub is one of the best known light aircraft of all time. The Cubs simplicity, affordability and popularity — as well as its production numbers. The Cub was originally intended as a trainer, and saw popularity in this role. Large numbers of Cubs are still flying today, notably Cubs are highly prized as bush aircraft. The Cub is a high-wing strut-braced monoplane with a large area rectangular wing and it is powered by an air-cooled piston engine driving a fixed pitch propeller. Its fuselage is a steel frame covered in fabric, seating two people in tandem. The aircrafts standard chrome yellow paint has come to be known as Cub Yellow or Lock Haven Yellow, the Taylor E-2 Cub first appeared in 1930, built by Taylor Aircraft in Bradford, Pennsylvania. Sponsored by William T. Piper, a Bradford industrialist and investor, later in 1930, the company went bankrupt, with Piper buying the assets but keeping founder C. Gilbert Taylor on as president. In 1936, an earlier Cub was altered by employee Walter Jamouneau to become the J-2 while Taylor was on sick leave, when he saw the redesign, Taylor was so incensed that he fired Jamouneau. Piper, however, had encouraged Jamouneaus changes, and hired him back, Piper then bought Taylors share in the company, paying him US$250 per month for three years. Although sales were slow, about 1,200 J-2s were produced before a fire in the Piper factory ended its production in 1938. After Piper moved his company from Bradford to Lock Haven, the J-3, powered by a 40 hp engine, in 1938, it sold for just over $1,000. A very few examples, designated J3P, were equipped with Lenape Papoose 3-cylinder radial engines, the Piper J-3 Cub became the primary trainer aircraft of the CPTP and played an integral role in its success, achieving legendary status. 75 percent of all new pilots in the CPTP were trained in Cubs, by wars end,80 percent of all United States military pilots had received their initial flight training in Piper Cubs. The need for new pilots created an appetite for the Cub. In 1940, the year before the United States entry into the war,3,016 Cubs had been built, prior to the United States entering World War II, J-3s were part of a fund-raising program to support the United Kingdom. Billed as a Flitfire, a Piper Cub J3 bearing Royal Air Force insignia was donated by W. T. Piper, Piper distributors nationwide were encouraged to do the same
34.
Stinson L-5 Sentinel
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The Stinson L-5 Sentinel was a World War II era liaison aircraft used by all branches of the U. S. military and by the British Royal Air Force. Along with the Stinson L-1 Vigilant, the L-5 was the only other American liaison aircraft of World War II that was purpose-built for military use and had no civilian counterpart, all other military liaison airplanes adopted during World War II were lightly modified off-the-shelf civilian models. The origins of the L-5, affectionately known as the Flying Jeep, the 75 horsepower civilian high-wing design was built by the Stinson Aircraft Company at Wayne, Michigan and first flew in 1939. The HW-75 featured two seats up front side-by-side, and a third jumpseat in the rear on which a passenger could sit sideways. The design was easy to fly, shortly after the introduction of the HW-75, Stinson became a subsidiary of the Vultee Aircraft corporation. Fitted with a four-cylinder 90 hp Franklin engine for the 1941 model year, in the postwar era, the fuselage of the Model 10A was enlarged to accommodate four seats, and the four-cylinder powerplant was replaced with a Franklin 150 hp six-cylinder engine. This conversion became the Stinson Model 108 Voyager and the civilian aircraft commercially produced by Stinson after WWII. Six examples of the Model 105 Voyager were equipped with 80 horsepower Continental O-170 engines, evaluated by the Air Corps in 1940 for potential use as a low-cost short-range observation aircraft, it failed to meet performance requirements. The prototype, designated as the Model V-76 by Vultee / Stinson was accepted by the military after accelerated service trials, the L-5 carried a pilot and observer in a tandem-seating configuration, which was preferred by the military for observation work. In March 1943, with the creation of the category of light observation aircraft the designation for Stinsons new purpose-built military design was changed to the L-5. The primary purpose as a aircraft was courier and communication work, artillery spotting. The fuselage of later models was redesigned so the aircraft could also be used as an air ambulance, with a wider and deeper rear fuselage section and a large rear door that folded downward, a litter patient or 250 pounds of cargo could be quickly loaded aboard. The L-5 was powered by a six-cylinder 190 horsepower Lycoming O-435 engine, capable of operating from short unimproved airstrips, the L-5 Sentinel delivered personnel, critical intelligence and needed supplies to the front line troops. On return flights, wounded soldiers were evacuated to rear area field hospitals for medical treatment. The L-5 was also popular with Generals and other high-ranking officers for fast, the USAAF, US Marines, and US Navy used this aircraft in the European, Pacific, and Far East theaters during World War II, and in Korea during the Korean War. The Navy and Marine version of the L-5 through L-5E were designated OY-1, the 24-volt L-5G became the OY-2. Neither the L-5G nor OY-2 saw combat during World War II because production did not begin until July,1945, just weeks before the war ended, the British Royal Air Force procured 40 L-5s and 60 L-5Bs, and designated them Sentinel Is and Sentinel IIs respectively. These aircraft were used exclusively in the India-Burma theater of operations, after World War II, the L-5 was widely used by the Civil Air Patrol for search and rescue work
35.
United States Army Field Artillery School
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The school further develops leaders who are tactically and technically proficient, develops and refines warfighting doctrine, and designs units capable of winning on future battlefields. The school is located at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The mission of the Field Artillery is to destroy, defeat, the mission of the Field Artillery School, The U. S. The U. S. Army Field Artillery enables maneuver commanders to dominate in Unified Land Operations through effective targeting, integration, shield, Gules, a field piece of the 16th century paleways in plan Or. Crest, On a wreath of the colors the arm of Saint Barbara embowed clothed of the second, issuing from the portion of an embattled tower Argent. Symbolism, The shield is red for Artillery, the piece depicted. The crest is the arm of Saint Barbara, the saint of Artillery. Background, The device was approved for The Field Artillery School in 8 April 1926. It was redesignated for The Artillery School on 19 May 1954, on 11 September 1957 the device was redesignated for the U. S. On 13 February 1969 it was redesignated for the U. S. Field Artillery School, description/Blazon, On a scarlet shield edged with a 1/8 inch yellow border,3 inches in height and 2 inches in width overall, a yellow field piece. Symbolism, The ancient field piece is taken from the device of the Field Artillery School, as well as the colors scarlet, background, The shoulder sleeve insignia was originally approved on 17 July 1970 for the U. S. Army Field Artillery School. It was amended on 9 June 1981 to extend authorization for wear to personnel assigned to the U. S. Army Field Artillery Center. Description/Blazon, A gold color metal and enamel device 1 inch in height overall on a shield Gules, symbolism, The shield is red for Artillery, the field piece depicted, having been used in the 16th century, is the forerunner of the modern artillery. Background, The distinctive unit insignia was approved for the Field Artillery School on 29 March 1930. It was redesignated for the Artillery School on 19 May 1954, on 11 September 1957 the insignia was redesignated for the U. S. Army Artillery and Missile School. The distinctive unit insignia was redesignated for the U. S. Field Army Artillery School on 13 February 1969 and it was amended on 9 June 1981 to extend authorization for wear to personnel assigned to the U. S. Army Field Artillery Center. The origin of USAFAS can be traced back to the 1907 reorganization of the Artillery Corps, the 1907 reorganization created Coastal and Field Artillery Branches. In the process of reorganization, the Field Artillery was deprived of its former home at Fort Monroe
36.
Henry Post Army Airfield
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Henry Post Army Airfield is a military use airport located at Fort Sill in Comanche County, Oklahoma, United States. This military airport is owned by United States Army, established as Post Field in 1917, it was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the United States entry into World War I in April 1917. Henry Post Army Airfield was the first home of all Army Aviation Training after World War II before moving to Fort Rucker and it is a very historic airfield. There is still a balloon hangar, transported by railcars from Moffett Field in California, the balloon hangar is now the home of Fort Sill Museum Aviation Annex and is listed as a Historic Landmark. The old Harrison Aviation Clinic is next to the field, it also is listed as a Historic Landmark, Henry Post AAF has one runway designated 17/35 with a concrete surface measuring 5,001 by 200 feet. There are no permanently assigned Army aviation units, and the facilities are operated as a military airport, the primary users of the airfield are USAF training aircraft from Sheppard AFB, Wichita Falls, TX and Dyess AFB, Abilene, TX. The field was named in honor of pioneer aviator 2d Lieutenant Henry Post, Post was assigned to the 25th Infantry, and reported for aeronautical duty at the Signal Corps Aviation School, Rockwell Field, San Diego, California on 26 May 1913. On 18 December, Post set a record for Air Service aviation. On 9 February 1914, while at Rockwell Field, he was killed in an airplane crash, the first Army aviation at Fort Sill began on 26 July 1915 when eight Curtiss JN-3 airplanes of the 1st Aero Squadron arrived from Rockwell Field, California. The squadron was ordered to Fort Sill as a result of the Tampico Affair threatened war between the United States and Mexico, however, the aviation facilities at Fort Sill consisted of little more than a grass field. Using Fort Sill as a base of operations, a detachment was flown to Brownsville, Texas in August until an airfield was built for the squadron at Fort Sam Houston. As a result of the United States entry into World War I, construction of some 50 buildings began to support the school. Post Field was established as an Airfield on 10 September 1917, the field covered over 700 acres and could accommodate up to 1,000 personnel. Dozens of wooden buildings served as headquarters, maintenance, and officers quarters, although the Signal corps had been supplying Observation aircraft for the United States Army Field Artillery School since 1915. In the early days of aviation Observation balloons were considered a more reliable than Airplanes for artillery spotting. Company A 1st Balloon Squadron was assigned to the post on 24 September 1917, but was split up into the 25th, and 26th Balloon Companies. The first aircraft squadron to arrive was the 3d Aero Squadron on 29 August 1917, although the 3d was equipped with twelve Curtiss R-4 planes, they were replaced with Curtiss JN-4Ds that were shipped in wooden crates by railcar. Post Field served as a base for training for the Air Service
37.
Army Ground Forces
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The Army Ground Forces were one of the three autonomous components of the Army of the United States during World War II, the others being the Army Air Forces and Army Service Forces. Throughout their existence, Army Ground Forces were the largest training organization ever established in the United States and its strength of 780,000 troops on 1 May 1942 grew to a peak of 2,200,000 by 1 July 1943. Thereafter its strength declined as units departed for overseas theaters, Army Ground Forces traces their origins back to General Headquarters, United States Army, which were activated on 26 July 1940. This was not realized in practice because the war was fought in many theaters, nor did GHQ become the equivalent of a theater command for the Zone of Interior, administrative authority was exercised by G-4 of the War Department General Staff through the Corps Area Commands. Instead, GHQ was drawn into the task of raising and training a mass army. Nominally, the U. S. Army Chief of Staff, Marshall, was the commanding general of GHQ, while his Chief of Staff was Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair, who had been Commandant of the Command and General Staff School. However, since Marshall saw him infrequently and seldom visited GHQ, located at the Army War College, in March 1942, there was a sweeping reorganization of the Army that reduced the number of officers reporting to the Chief of Staff. McNair also became responsible for four new pseudo-arms – airborne, armor, anti-aircraft and he had the power to reorganize the ground army, cutting across traditional lines without branch rivalries. In 1942, it was estimated that between 200 and 350 divisions would be required to defeat Germany and Japan, however, only 89 divisions were ultimately readied. This was partially because requirements for service troops and overhead was greater than anticipated, Army strength was fixed at 7,500,000 enlisted men in 1942 and was subsequently cut to 7,004,000 enlisted men in 1943. Further cuts of 433,000 men were made by March 1945, as a result, divisions scheduled for activation in the second half of 1943 were postponed to 1944, then canceled entirely, and no new divisions were formed after June 1943. By May 1945, 96% of all troops were overseas. No new units were forming and there were no reserves, fortunately, these sufficed to bring about the defeat of Germany and Japan, largely because the Soviet Union carried most of the burden of fighting the German Army on the Eastern Front. However, it meant that divisions were kept in the line longer than anticipated. In three months of combat, an infantry division could expect 100% casualties in its three infantry regiments. Units were maintained by a flow of individual replacements. Such conditions placed great strain on the soldier who remained in action until he became a casualty. Energetic and painstaking efforts were made by Army Ground Forces to optimize the divisions for combat operations, non-essential troops and equipment were eliminated
38.
1st Special Operations Wing
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The 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida is one of three United States Air Force active duty Special Operations wings and falls under the Air Force Special Operations Command. The 1st Special Operations Wing is an organization of the 16th Pursuit Group. The wing has units located at Hurlburt Field, Florida, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, the wings motto of Keeping the Air Commando promise to provide reliable, precise Air Force special operations air power. Any Time, Any Place, has shown to be true since the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. MH-53 Pave Lows responded almost immediately to support efforts in New York City and Washington. Since the Global War on Terrorism began in October 2001, 1st SOW aircraft have flown more than 25,000 combat sorties, the wing has also deployed more than 8,500 personnel to 16 geographic locations around the world. The continued high operations tempo of the 1st SOW truly put the Air Commandos assigned here at the tip of the spear, the following units and aircraft are assigned to the 1st Special Operations Wing, The units current emblem was approved on 6 June 1963. The 16th Pursuit Groups emblem was approved in 1934 and it has four lightning bolts—representing the four assigned squadrons—depicting destruction from the sky. The unit, however, was not activated until 1 December 1932, the 16th Pursuit Group spent its entire existence in the defense of the Panama Canal. The Group was progressively redesignated, in keeping with the changes sweeping through the Army Air Corps, becoming first the 16th Pursuit Group in 1939 and it was disbanded in the Canal Zone on 1 November 1943. Although subordinate squadrons assigned to the Group changed over the years the Group headquarters remained at Albrook Field throughout its existence. S. In June 1941, relief for the P-36As arrived in the form of 6 Curtiss P-40Bs and 64 P-40Cs, as of the outbreak of war in December 1941, the Group had 20 serviceable P-40Cs but 10 new P-40Es had arrived, although one of these was promptly crashed. One other P-40C didnt have a prop, and all elements of the Group were dispersed at Albrook Field, besides these, the Group had 23 P-40Cs, eight P-40Es and 14 of its former P-36As back at Albrook. 2 to attempt to get the men assigned at Group back into the midst of field operations that were being endured by the subordinate squadrons, in actuality, the Group was disbanded on 31 October 1943, at which time the HHS still had a solitary Curtiss P-36A assigned. The Command and Control responsibilities of the surviving former Squadrons of the Group then came under the umbrella of the XXVI Fighter Command. The next unit in the lineage of the 1 SOW is the 1st Air Commando Group, president Franklin D. Roosevelt, amidst the Quebec Conference in August 1943, was impressed by Brigadier Orde Wingates account of what could be accomplished in Burma with proper air support. To comply with Roosevelts proposed air support for British long range penetration operations in Burma, in March 1944, they were designated the 1st Air Commando Group by USAAF Commander General Hap Arnold. Arnold chose Colonel John R. Alison and Colonel Philip Cochran as co-commanders of the unit, General Claire Lee Chennault lobbied to Arnold, who knew Alison from service at Langley Field, suggesting Alison be given the new command
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Myanmar
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Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also known as Burma, is a sovereign state in South East Asia bordered by Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand. About one third of Myanmars total perimeter of 5,876 km, forms an uninterrupted coastline of 1,930 km along the Bay of Bengal, the countrys 2014 census revealed a much lower population than expected, with 51 million people recorded. Myanmar is 676,578 square kilometres in size and its capital city is Naypyidaw and its largest city and former capital city is Yangon. Early civilizations in Myanmar included the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states in Upper Burma, the Pagan Kingdom fell due to the Mongol invasions and several warring states emerged. In the 16th century, reunified by the Taungoo Dynasty, the country was for a period the largest empire in the history of Mainland Southeast Asia. The early 19th century Konbaung Dynasty ruled over an area included modern Myanmar and briefly controlled Manipur. The British invaded Myanmar after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century and the became a British colony. Myanmar became an independent nation in 1948, initially as a nation and then, following a coup détat in 1962. For most of its independent years, the country has been engrossed in rampant ethnic strife, during this time, the United Nations and several other organisations have reported consistent and systematic human rights violations in the country. In 2011, the junta was officially dissolved following a 2010 general election. While former military leaders still wield enormous power in the country, there is, however, continuing criticism of the governments treatment of the Muslim Rohingya minority and its poor response to the religious clashes. In the landmark 2015 election, Aung San Suu Kyis party won a majority in both houses, Myanmar is a country rich in jade and gems, oil, natural gas and other mineral resources. In 2013, its GDP stood at US$56.7 billion, the income gap in Myanmar is among the widest in the world, as a large proportion of the economy is controlled by supporters of the former military government. As of 2016, according to the Human Development Index, Myanmar had a level of human development. The renaming remains a contested issue, many political and ethnic opposition groups and countries continue to use Burma because they do not recognise the legitimacy of the ruling military government or its authority to rename the country. The countrys official name is the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Countries that do not officially recognise that name use the long form Union of Burma instead, in English, the country is popularly known as either Burma or Myanmar /ˈmjɑːnˌmɑːr/. Both these names are derived from the name of the majority Burmese Bamar ethnic group, Myanmar is considered to be the literary form of the name of the group, while Burma is derived from Bamar, the colloquial form of the groups name
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Sikorsky R-4
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The Sikorsky R-4 was a two-seat helicopter designed by Igor Sikorsky with a single, three-bladed main rotor and powered by a radial engine. In U. S. Navy and U. S. Coast Guard service, in British service, it was known as the Hoverfly. The VS-316 was developed from the famous experimental VS-300 helicopter, invented by Igor Sikorsky, the VS-316 was designated the XR-4, under the United States Army Air Forces series for Rotorcraft. The XR-4 first flew on 14 January 1942, and was accepted by the Army on 30 May 1942, the XR-4 exceeded all the previous helicopter endurance, altitude and airspeed records that had been set before it. The British Admiralty, having learned of the VS-300, made a ship available that had been intended to show the USN their work with autogyros, the Empire Mersey was fitted with an 80 ft ×40 ft landing platform. After her loss in 1942 to a U-boat, she was replaced by the SS Daghestan, the first deck landing trials on Daghestan were carried out in 1944 The British received two of the first eight helicopters built. On 5 January 1943, the United States Army Air Forces ordered 29 prototypes, the first three prototypes were designated as the YR-4A and used for evaluation testing. The YR-4A benefited from a larger,180 hp Warner Super Scarab engine, compared to the 165 hp R-500-3 engine in the prototype, and these and other design changes led to the designation of later prototypes as YR-4B, which were used for service testing and flight training. On 22–23 April 1944, U. S. Army Lieutenant Carter Harman of the 1st Air Commando Group conducted the first combat rescue by using a YR-4B in the China-Burma-India theater. Despite the high altitude, humidity, and capacity for only a passenger, Harman rescued a downed liaison aircraft pilot. The higher-than-normal altitude required a run of 20 ft to get airborne. While the R-4 was being used for rescues in Burma and China, on 23 May 1944, six ships set sail with two R-4s on board each vessel. The ships had been configured as floating repair depots for damaged Army Air Forces aircraft in the South Pacific, when the helicopters were not being used to fly the parts from one location to another, they were enlisted for medical evacuation and other mercy missions. On 24 October, a helicopter rescued several men of the sunken destroyer USS Turner, in Royal Air Force service, the R-4 was called the Hoverfly. The Helicopter Training School, formed January 1945 at RAF Andover, was the first British military unit to be equipped with the helicopter. Many RAF Hoverfly Mark Is were transferred to the Royal Navy for training, some R-4s had the tailwheel located at the extreme aft end of the boom near the tail rotor while others had it positioned at the midpoint of the boom. Additionally, some had short stub exhaust pipes from the engine while others had a longer one which extended vertically. XR-4 One prototype Model VS-316A with a crew of two and dual controls,165 hp R-500-3 engine, became XR-4C YR-4A Version with larger rotor diameter and a 180 hp R-550-1 engine, three built
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Rotorcraft
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A rotorcraft or rotary-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air flying machine that uses lift generated by wings, called rotary wings or rotor blades, that revolve around a mast. Several rotor blades mounted on a single mast are referred to as a rotor, the International Civil Aviation Organization defines a rotorcraft as supported in flight by the reactions of the air on one or more rotors. Rotorcraft generally include those aircraft where one or more rotors are required to provide lift throughout the flight, such as helicopters, cyclocopters, autogyros. Compound rotorcraft may also include additional thrust engines or propellers and static lifting surfaces, helicopters have several different configurations of one or more main rotors. A cyclocopter is a rotorcraft whose rotors are driven by the engine throughout the flight. At the present time flying model prototypes have been built in China, US, S. Korea, while similar to a helicopter rotor in appearance, the autogyros rotor must have air flowing up and through the rotor disk in order to generate rotation. Early autogyros resembled the fixed-wing aircraft of the day, with wings, late-model autogyros feature a rear-mounted engine and propeller in a pusher configuration. The autogyro was invented in 1920 by Juan de la Cierva, the autogyro with pusher propeller was first tested by Etienne Dormoy with his Buhl A-1 Autogyro. As power is increased to the propeller, less power is required by the rotor to provide forward thrust resulting in reduced pitch angles and rotor blade flapping. At cruise speeds with most or all of the thrust being provided by the propellers, a rotor kite or gyroglider is an unpowered rotary-wing aircraft. Like an autogyro or helicopter, it relies on lift created by one or more sets of rotors in order to fly, a rotary wing is characterised by the number of blades. Typically this is two and six per driveshaft. A rotorcraft may have one or more rotors, various rotor configurations have been used, One rotor. Powered rotors require compensation for the reaction causing yaw, except in the case of tipjet drive. These typically rotate in opposite directions cancelling the torque reaction so that no tail rotor or other yaw stabiliser is needed and these rotors can be laid out as Tandem – One in front of the other. Coaxial – One rotor disc above the other, with drive shafts. An uncommon configuration, the 1948 Cierva Air Horse had three rotors as it was not believed a single rotor of sufficient strength could be built for its size. All three rotors turned in the direction and yaw compensation was provided by inclining each rotor axis to generate rotor thrust components that opposed torque
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Bell H-13 Sioux
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The Bell H-13 Sioux was a two-bladed, single engine, light helicopter built by Bell Helicopter. Westland Aircraft manufactured the Sioux under license for the British military as the Sioux AH.1, in 1947, the United States Army Air Forces ordered the improved Bell Model 47A. Most were designated YR-13 and three winterized versions were designated YR-13A, the United States Army first ordered Bell 47s in 1948 under the designation H-13. These would later receive the name Sioux, initially, the United States Navy procured several Bell 47s, designated HTL-1, between 1947 and 1958. The United States Coast Guard evaluated this model, and procured two HTL-1s for multi-mission support in the New York Harbor, the most common U. S. Navy version of the 47 was designated the HTL-4, and dispenses with the fabric covering on the tail boom. The U. S. Coast Guard procured three HTL-5s in 1952 and used these until 1960, the Coast Guard procured two of Bells Model 47G and designated them HUL-1G in 1959. The H-13 was used as an observation helicopter early in the Vietnam War, the Bell 47 was ordered by the British Army as the Sioux to meet specification H.240, with licensed production by Westland Helicopters. The first contract was for 200 helicopters, the first 50 helicopters of the contract were built by Agusta at Gallarate in Italy followed by 150 built by Westland at Yeovil. The first Westland Sioux made its flight on 9 March 1965. The Sioux is an observation and basic training helicopter. In 1953 the Bell 47G design was introduced and it can be recognized by the full soap bubble canopy, exposed welded-tube tail boom, saddle fuel tanks and skid landing gear. In its UH-13J version, based on the Bell 47J, it had a tail boom and fuselage. The H-13 and its variants were often equipped with medical evacuation panniers, one to each skid. A single 260 hp Lycoming VO-435 piston engine was fitted to the 47G variant, fuel was fed from two high-mounted external tanks. A single two-bladed rotor with short inertial stabilising minor blades was used on the Sioux, yR-13/HTL-128 Bell 47A helicopters procured by the United States Army Air Forces for evaluation. The YR-13 was powered by a 175 hp Franklin O-335-1 piston engine,10 of the aircraft were evaluated by the U. S. Navy as trainers. YR-13A3 YR-13 aircraft winterized for cold-weather testing in Alaska, HTL-2 US Navy equivalent of the commercial Model 47D. HTL-3 US Navy equivalent of the commercial Model 47E, powered by a 200 hp Franklin 6V4-200-C32 engine, H-13B65 aircraft ordered in 1948 by the U. S. Army
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Cessna O-1 Bird Dog
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The Cessna L-19/O-1 Bird Dog was a liaison and observation aircraft. The Bird Dog had a career in the U. S. military. The U. S. Army issued the specification for a liaison and observation monoplane, and the Cessna Aircraft Company submitted the Cessna Model 305A. The Cessna 305A was a single-engined, lightweight, strut-braced, high-wing monoplane with a landing gear. The greatest difference from the Cessna 170 was that the 305A had only two seats, in configuration, with angled side windows to improve ground observation. A wider door was fitted to allow a stretcher to be loaded, the U. S. Army awarded a contract to Cessna for 418 of the aircraft, which was designated the L-19A Bird Dog. The prototype Cessna 305 first flew on 14 December 1949, deliveries began in December 1950, and the aircraft were soon in use fighting their first war in Korea from 1950 through 1953. An instrument trainer variant was developed in 1953, later versions had constant speed propellers, and the final version, Cessna produced 3,431 aircraft, it was also built under license by Fuji in Japan. The L-19 received the name Bird Dog as a result of a contest held with Cessna employees to name the aircraft, the winning entry, submitted by Jack A. Swayze, an industrial photographer, was selected by a U. S. Army board. The name was chosen because the role of the new aircraft was to find the enemy. While flying low and close to the battlefield, the pilot would observe the exploding shells and adjust the fire via his radios, the aircraft were used in various utility roles such as artillery spotting, front line communications, medevac and training. In 1962, the Army L-19 and Marine Corps OE-1 was redesignated the O-1 Bird Dog, during the early 1960s, the Bird Dog was flown by South Vietnamese, U. S. Army, and U. S. Marines in South Vietnam and later by clandestine forward air controllers in Laos, the last U. S. Army O-1 Bird Dog was officially retired in 1974. During the course of the Vietnam War,469 O-1 Bird Dogs were lost to all causes, the USAF lost 178, the USMC lost 7, and 284 were lost from the U. S. Army, South Vietnamese Forces, and clandestine operators. Three Bird Dogs were lost to enemy hand-held surface-to-air missiles, two O-1 Bird Dogs were loaned to the Australian Armys 161 Reconnaissance Flight operating out of Nui Dat in Phuoc Tuy province. One was lost to fire in May 1968, killing 161s commanding officer. Another Bird Dog was built by this units maintenance crew, using aircraft sections salvaged from dumps around Vietnam and it was test-flown and later smuggled back to Australia in pieces, contained in crates marked as aircraft spares. This aircraft now resides in the Museum of Army Flying at the Army Aviation Center at Oakey, as the USAF phased out the O-1 in favor of the O-2 and OV-10, many O-1s in the United States were sold as surplus
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Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw
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The Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw, was a multi-purpose helicopter used by the United States Army and United States Air Force. It was also license-built by Westland Aircraft as the Westland Whirlwind in the United Kingdom, United States Navy and United States Coast Guard models were designated HO4S, while those of the U. S. Marine Corps were designated HRS. In 1962, the U. S. Navy, U. S. Coast Guard and U. S. Marine Corps versions were all redesignated as H-19s like their U. S. Army, development of the H-19 was initiated privately by Sikorsky without government sponsorship. The helicopter was designed as a testbed for several novel design concepts intended to provide greater load-carrying ability in combination with easy maintenance. Under the leadership of designer Edward F. Katzenberger, a mockup was designed and fabricated in less one year. The first customer was the United States Air Force, which ordered five YH-19 aircraft for evaluation, the YH-19s first flight was on 10 November 1949, less than a year after the program start date. This was followed by delivery of the first YH-19 to the U. S. Air Force on 16 April 1950 and delivery of the first HO4S-1 helicopter to the U. S. Navy on 31 August 1950. A U. S. Air Force YH-19 was sent to Korea for service trials in March 1951, where it was joined by a second YH-19 in September 1951. On 27 April 1951, the first HRS-1 was delivered to the U. S. Marine Corps, and on 2 May 1951,1,281 of the helicopters were manufactured by Sikorsky in the United States. An additional 447 were manufactured by licensees of the helicopter including Westland Aircraft, the helicopter was widely exported, used by many other nations, including Portugal, Greece, Israel, Chile, South Africa, Denmark and Turkey. Enough fuel was provided for seven minutes of operation, although tests of the system were considered successful, it was never adopted operationally. These features yielded an aircraft that was far more capable in a role than previous Sikorsky designs. The impetus for this choice was the recent rejection of the Sikorsky XHJS by the U. S. The YH-19 prototypes featured a blunt aft fuselage and a single starboard-mounted horizontal tailplane with a vertical fin at its outboard end. Initial production models added a large fillet-like fin behind the fuselage and under the tailboom, the H-19 underwent live service tests in the hands of the 6th Transportation Company, during the Korean War beginning in 1951 as an unarmed transport helicopter. The U. S. Air Force ordered 50 H-19As for rescue duties in 1951 and these aircraft were the primary rescue and medical evacuation helicopters for the USAF during the Korean War. The Air Force continued to use the H-19 through the 1960s, in Indochina, a small number of Hiller H-23s and Sikorsky H-19s were available for casualty evacuation. In 1956, the French Air Force experimented with arming the H-19, then being superseded in service by the more capable Piasecki H-21 and Sikorsky H-34 helicopters
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United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence
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Armys commitment to the well-being to its soldiers, civilians, retirees, and Families. Its Commanding General is Major General Michael D. Lundy, the Center of Excellence includes three aviation brigades, the 1st Aviation Brigade, 110th Aviation Brigade, and 128th Aviation Brigade, and a Noncommissioned Officers Academy. Organic Army Aviation first entered combat in November 1942 on the coast of North Africa. During the Korean War, the Department of Air Training at Post Field expanded, as a result of the expansion of both aviation and artillery training, Post Field became overcrowded, and the Army decided to move the Army Aviation School to a different post. When no satisfactory permanent Army post was found, a temporary post, Camp Rucker, the Army Aviation School began moving to Alabama in August 1954 and the first class began at Rucker in October. On 1 February 1955, the Army Aviation Center was officially established at Rucker, in October of that year, the post was given permanent status with the name change from Camp Rucker to Fort Rucker. Before the mid-1950s, the Air Force had provided training for Army Aviation pilots. In 1956, the U. S. Department of Defense gave the Army control over all of its own training, Gary and Wolters Air Force Bases in Texas, where the Air Force had been conducting this training, were also transferred to the Army. Lacking adequate facilities at Fort Rucker, Army Aviation continued primary fixed-wing training at Camp Gary until 1959, the pioneer Black flying instructor Milton Crenchaw taught at then-Camp Rucker from 1954 to 1966. In 1956, the Army Aviation Center began assembling and testing weapons on helicopters and these tests, conducted while the Air Force still theoretically had exclusive responsibility for aerial fire support, led to the development of armament systems for Army helicopters. The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended that Aviation logistics establishments at Fort Eustis be consolidated with the Aviation Center, in the event, this did not take place. What had become the U. S. Army Aviation Warfighting Center was subsequently renamed the U. S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence on 26 June 2006, the 1st Aviation Brigade traces its origins to the Vietnam War. In April 1965 the U. S. Army Aviation Brigade was activated with the existing 13th, 14th, 52nd, in August 1965 it became the 12th Aviation Group, which then doubled in size and was used to form the 1st Aviation Brigade in March 1966. Thus the brigade was formed to achieve standardisation, brigadier General George P. Seneff, the Staff Aviation Officer at Military Assistance Command Vietnam, became the brigade commander. The Brigade Headquarters and Headquarters Company was located in Saigon from May 1966 until August 1967, then the HQ moved to Long Binh where it remained until Long Binh was closed in the early autumn of 1972. The HQ then moved to the MACV compound at Tan Son Nhut, the 13th Battalion, which was later to become a full group, remained in the Mekong Delta. Two aviation groups—the 17th and the 12th—supervised the aviation assets in the II and III Corps Tactical Zones respectively, the aviation group commander was also the aviation officer for the U. S. Field Force commander. During June 1970, the 1st Aviation Brigade reached its largest size, at this time it was composed of four combat aviation groups,16 combat aviation battalions, and 83 companies with over 4,000 aircraft and 27,000 personnel
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Armed helicopter
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An armed helicopter is a military helicopter equipped with aircraft ordnance. Most commonly, it is used for attacking targets on the ground, with the weapons mounts being modifications, rather than part of the design of the helicopter. Specialized armed helicopters fly from ships at sea, and are equipped for antisubmarine warfare or strikes with anti-shipping missiles, the French Army was one of the first military forces to modify and use helicopters in combat in a ground attack role during the Algerian War of 1954-62. In 1955, French field commanders placed infantry machine gunners in the stretcher panniers of their Bell 47 casualty evacuation helicopters, the ad hoc gunships were used to reach FLN guerrilla positions on otherwise inaccessible mountain ridges and peaks, but were far too underpowered. In 1956, the French Air Force experimented with arming the Sikorsky S-55, then being superseded in service by the more capable Piasecki H-21, the H-19 was originally fitted with two rocket launchers and an ex-Luftwaffe MG151/20 20-mm cannon, both mounted axially on the outside of the aircraft. Most H-21s in service were fitted with a single door-mounted 12.7 mm machine gun or an MG151/20 20-mm cannon as defensive armament. The United States Navy and the United Kingdom began modifying existing helicopters as weapons platforms, carrying depth bombs. After learning of French Army experiments, there was a movement within the U. S. Army to arm helicopters. Under the leadership of Colonel Jay Vanderpool, the U. S. Army modified Sikorsky and other helicopters with fixed and flexible-mount machine guns, rockets. While Col. Vanderpool was ridiculed by some in the Army, the first United States use of the armed helicopter in large-scale combat operations was during the Vietnam War. First the U. S. Army modified UH-1B Huey helicopters, mounting machine guns and Folding Fin Aerial Rockets on struts parallel with the fuselage. Eventually, the U. S. Army would upgrade the engine and rotor to the UH-1C model, but this was not fully satisfactory, so the AH-1 helicopter was developed. During the 1960s, the Soviet Union saw the need for an armed helicopter and this armed helicopter eventually developed into the Mil Mi-24, which saw extensive action in Afghanistan during the 80s. Mi-24s were also exported in large numbers to many Asian and African countries, in the last 20 years US Special Operations Command has been developing the special forces gunship, using the MH-60. These helicopters are to be used as an element with special operators to do the cleanup, or to deliver the operators. They were used successfully during the Scud Hunt, other Army Special Operations include the MH-6 and AH-6 Little Birds. The MH-6 carries special operators on benches outside the helicopters, from which they can move quickly, the AH-6 is for close air support. The MH-47 Chinook helicopter has been used to carry special operators using long-wheelbase Land Rovers and other vehicles in, for longer-range special operations, the Air Force had operated the MH-53 Pave Low helicopter with extensive avionics for navigation, flying at very low altitude, and electronic warfare
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Howze Board
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What became known as airmobility within the United States Army was a direct result of the Howze Boards findings. It was named after its chairman, Hamilton H. Howze, the roots of the Howze Board may be found in the 1960 Army Aircraft Requirements Review Board. It did recommend that an operational use study be considered, both these suggestions would find expression in the Howze Board. The Howze Board was also shaped by the conflict in South Vietnam. Under earlier agreements, the Army could only operate aircraft under certain weight, there were also limits placed on arming such aircraft. The Air Force focused its objections on Army fixed wing aircraft, before the Howze Board the Caribou and the Mohawk were the two major symbols of Army-Air Force disagreement and more time was devoted to these systems than to the entire mobility concept itself. International events and changes in the policy of the United States also played a role in the formation of the board. This approach was to ignore past policies and restrictions, and shift from ground-based systems to airmobile systems if it would improve capabilities, McNamaras memo also named the individuals he wished to conduct this review, giving the Secretary of the Army no room to place his own appointees. Finally, McNamara indicated that he wanted the board to use field tests, the Armys response to McNamaras memo was to form a board organized like the earlier Rogers Board. Howze, who had served on the Rogers Board, was selected to chair the Tactical Mobility Requirements Board on 25 April, the board was created by a letter from General Herbert B. Powell, Commanding General, United States Continental Army Command, dated 3 May 1962 and its eventual membership consisted of 240 military personnel and 53 civilians, not counting those assigned to troop tests, operational analysis, and war gaming. The Board consisted of a board, a review committee, an advisory panel. An additional steering committee was formed from the president, the review committee. All but one of the men mentioned in McNamaras original memo were included on the board, the bulk of the work was done by working committees and groups. Notable members, General Hamiliton H. Howze, President Brigadier General Joseph B, starker Lieutenant General James H. Merryman Major General George S. Beatty, Jr. Major General Ben Harrell Major General William B. The board also created and supervised the groups and committees previously mentioned. The eight working groups were, Counterinsurgency, Combat Forces, Logistics Forces, Long Range, Strategic Area, Operations Research, Field Tests, and Programs, Policy and Budget. These groups were formed around areas specifically mentioned in McNamamas memo, the board started its work at Fort Bragg, using the Erwin School initially as it was available during the summer months
