Military History | How To Make War | Wars Around the World Rules of Use How to Behave on an Internet Forum
Naval Air Discussion Board
Sign In   Return to Topic Page
Subject: Naval attack helicopters?
Question    10/26/2003 6:53:22 AM
I heard that on some cruisers/destroyers they carry 1 or 2 helicopters....im not sure if they are recon,rescue or attack helicopters.Which brings me to the question : Are attack helicopters useful in naval warfare?I was thinking with all the AA fire from ships that would be relatively accurate vs low altitude slow moving aircraft,helicopters would get shredded....but im pretty sure some ships carry attack helicopters with rockets on them.....
 
Quote    Reply

Email Me When A New Comment Is Made
Show Only Poster Name and Title     Newest to Oldest

Heorot    RE:Naval attack helicopters?   10/26/2003 7:05:32 AM
Royal Navy ships carry Lynx helicopters equipped with Sea Skua attack missiles. The combination is pefect adainst small attack craft as shown in the Falklands and Desert Storm.
 
Quote    Reply

bsl    RE:Naval attack helicopters?   10/26/2003 8:07:54 PM
USN ships have carried both Marine Cobra and Army Apache gunships at various times in the past. Notably, during both the first Gulf War and the late Iraq War. My impression is that they were generally staged off larger ships, but they might be carried on any ship equipped to operate ASW helicopters. The problem is that "attack" helicopters, as the term is generally used, are optimized for a different kind of threat environment. In land engagements, they're ready to engage from five miles or less. This is fine against tanks or trucks. It can be a problem at sea, in a hostile environment, where antiair weapons may abound with ranges out to 20, 40, 50 miles or more. And, there is no terrain around to hide behind. Attack helicopters may help when the problem is watching civilian shipping and they may be very useful against attacks by small boats. The kind involved in attacking the Cole, for instance. That's why they been carried, in the past. But, as far as conventional naval threats go, they're the wrong systems.
 
Quote    Reply

Dancing Johnny    RE:Naval attack helicopters?   10/28/2003 2:49:18 AM
The role of helicopters on US cruisers/destroyers has normally been as ASW helos. These helos (SH-2F's, now retired, and SH-60B's) are part of an integrated ship/aircraft system called LAMPS (Light Airborn Multi-Purpose System). They are outfitted with some heavy-duty sub hunting equipment, but could be used for survallance. During GW1 we would rip the ASW gear out of our SH-2F, mount a couple of M60's in the doors, and presto-chango we were now combat SAR helos, but we only did that when in the Gulf. Later, some SH-60B's were equiped to fire Peguin anti-ship missiles. To answear you question; No the US Navy dosn't fly attack helos off of small boys (small ships). Thats best left to the Harpoon and Tomahawk missiles.
 
Quote    Reply



StrategyWorld.com© 1998 - 2012StrategyWorld.com. All rights Reserved. StrategyWorld.com, StrategyPage.com, FYEO, For Your Eyes Only and Al Nofi's CIC are all trademarks of StrategyWorld.com Privacy Policy