U.S. helicopter armament subsystems
These systems are used for offensive and defensive purposes and make use of a wide variety of weapon types including, but not limited to machine guns, grenade launchers, autocannon, and rockets.
In the air, against land-based threats, and at sea, helicopters can be used to attack, defend, and transport to react swiftly to the fluid tactical conditions of modern combat.
That year saw the deployment of the UTTHCO (Utility Tactical Transport Helicopter Company) to help the South Vietnamese Army and to test new air mobile theory.
[3] A subvariant of the M3 system was developed in 1964 by the US Army Limited War Laboratory that allowed equipped helicopters to produce a protective smoke screen.
While the XM26 was more of a test platform, the two prototypes were deployed operationally as an emergency measure in South Vietnam to counter the Easter Invasion in 1972.
Sources debate the origin of the "Sagami" name, with it being attributed to the soldier responsible for its creation,[14] as well as, to the name of the US facility on Okinawa where it was developed.
[16] Another attempt to up the firepower from existing systems, the XM31 provided two M24A1 20mm cannon in pods fitted to XM156/M156 universal mounts each with 600 rounds of ammunition, and flexible in elevation only.
[19] The XM93E1 is a variation on the system that allows both guns to be trained forward and remotely fired by the pilot using the M60 series of reflex sights.
The USAF was the primary user of this system and often combined it with two 7-Tube 2.75" rocket launchers of varying types on two independent support rack and pylon assemblies.
The complexity and questionable performance in the environment led to them being removed in favor of more conventional door mounted weaponry.
[32] The basic system comprises three M60 machine guns, one each at the forward door, the opposite emergency window, and the rear loading ramp.
[34] UTTHCO deployed with a number of CH-21's, and experimented with field expedient bars mated to the cargo doors, fitted with M37C .30-06 machine guns and feed from boxes mounted on top of the weapon.
The aircraft is also set up to carry a RMWS (Ramp Mounted Weapon System) which holds the M240D 7.62mm medium machine gun.
The XM-218, 0.50 caliber aircraft machine gun is a belt-fed, recoil-operated, air-cooled, alternate-feed weapon fired from the closed bolt position.
The M240D machine gun is a belt-fed, gas-operated, air-cooled, alternate-feed automatic weapon fired from the open bolt position.
A defensive armament subsystem, the M24 provides a pintle mount for an M60D 7.62×51mm machine gun at either left or right front cargo doors on the CH-47.
[7] A defensive armament subsystem, the XM33 provides a mount for either an M60D 7.62×51mm or an M2HB .50-caliber machine gun on the rear cargo ramp of the CH-47 helicopter.
[7] An offensive armament subsystem developed for the ACH-47 helicopter, the XM34 provides two M24A1 20mm cannons with ammunition boxes on sponsons at the front of the aircraft fixed forward.
A defensive armament subsystem, the M41 provides a mount for an M60D 7.62×51mm machine gun on the rear cargo ramp of the CH-47 helicopter.
Defensive armament systems for the H-53 series and developments as used by the US Navy have no known designation, but generally comprise pintle mounts at "personnel or cargo doors or windows of the aircraft.
[15] The US Army phased out the M60D in favor of the M240D and subsequently M240H, or M-134 Miniguns, but it is unknown whether the necessity of a new cradle for the weapon resulted in the system being redesignated.
[43] The ESSS can also be fitted with a wide range of weapons including up to sixteen AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, rockets and gun pods, and other systems.
Consisting of a single modified Mk 44 Mod 0 30mm cannon firing the Mk 248 Mod 1 Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding-Sabot Tracer (APFSDS-T) round, the RAMICS was intended to be mounted in the cabin of the MH-60S helicopter, and using its associated sensor package, target and neutralize mines at relatively shallow depths.
[47][48] In 2018 it was announced that RAMICS was cancelled "because of poor performance in early testing, incompatibility with MH-60s, and programmatic decision to upgrade Airborne Mine Neutralization System (AMNS) to perform near-surface mine neutralization mission"[49] A version of the TAT-102 (Tactical Armament Turret-102) designed specifically for use on the HH-2C helicopter, the TAT-102K mounted a single M134 Minigun in a fully traversable turret (for specifics see the information for the TAT-102A in the AH-1 Cobra entry).
[54] The initial XM27 featured a mount similar to a gunpod, which was quickly exchanged for a more aerodynamic fairing, as well as improvements to the ammunition stowage and other equipment on the XM27E1.
The racks, with stores mounted, may be folded 180 degrees upward for rapid loading into the C-130 transport aircraft, though the connecting umbilicals must be disconnected to prevent damage.
The standard fixed armament for the Bell AH-1 Cobra AH-1G, AH-1P (formerly referred to as AH-1S Production), AH-1Q, and initial AH-1S models, this turret unit is similar to the XM64, but was capable of mounting two M134 Miniguns, two M129 40 mm grenade launchers, or one of each weapon.
[66][67] There is the possibility that the M28A2 could have been the first unit designed to work with the XM128/M128 Helmet Sight System (HSS) developed primarily for use with TOW armed AH-1s.
The only type classified subsystem for the Boeing AH-64 Apache series, the M139 is composed of the "Aerial Rocket Control System" which gives the aircraft the ability to fire members of the Hydra 70/Mk 66 2.75 in/70 mm rocket family, a dispenser interface controlling the M130 chaff/flare dispenser (also used on the AH-1 helicopter), and the Area Weapon Subsystem.
[83] The Area Weapon Subsystem is made up of a single M230 30 mm chain gun, turret and assembly, ammunition feed, and other electronic components for the functioning of the system.
