Saturday, October 30, 2010
101st conducts an Air Assault in Afghanistan.
Is it me or does it seem as if our heavy lift helicopters (CH-53 and CH-47) appear to becoming the true jack-of-all trades? The medium lift helicopter while still valuable, just doesn't seem to have the utility of the larger types. Perhaps a truncated buy of MV-22's and an enlarged buy of CH-53K's wouldn't be such a bad idea...especially since the K is being touted as being capable of operating in contested air space.
Oh and back to the 101st and the US Army. CH-47's operating in the Air Assault role? Maybe they need to rebalance the force as well. More troops on the ground in fewer lifts? Sounds like a plan to me.
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We seem to be concentrating on the larger types as well, Chinook and Merlin
ReplyDeleteI do have a concern about concentration of risk though, too few airframes carrying too many personnel
I'm warming up to the Merlin. To be honest I was quite the critic but it seems to be a far better solution than the NH-90.
ReplyDeleteI think the era of BlackHawk sized helicopters might be coming to an end.
As far as the risk of losing alot of personnel in one airframe...I can see that, but the same dangers apply to the smaller helicopters that can carry fewer defensive counter measures....less powerful machine guns (or lasers in the future) etc....plus speaking of emerging tech, I really believe that we will soon see laser powerful enough to burn the circuitry of missiles and eventually destroy them outright.
Agree with Sol, the Merlin is about the right size for a modern utility helo, if they can solve its reliability issues its a winner.
ReplyDeleteAlthough to be fair, the main reason to favor the bigger birds in Af-Pak seems more to do with Hot & High performance and range. The US Blackhawks and UK Lynx's face the same sort of difficulties operating in theater (although greatly magnified in the later helo).
In such a situation 1 Ch-47 or Ch-53 can take over from 3-4 UH-60's so it represents a better utilization of resources. Are the days of the Blackhawk numbered? I wouldn't go that far, it still has a role, but that role is going to be increasingly in the niche category. Same for the Osprey, which due to its unique characteristics is arguably already a niche filler, and will probably become even more so in the future.
Also i think one important factor is the chinook and stallion are PROVEN platforms, they know how to use them and what they are able to do, the MV-22s are not so proven. I agree with everything that was said above about carrying more supplies, but i dont think the blackhawk is gone, i think we will need light/med lift helos, but we know what these two fine aircraft will do, and in war, you want that.
ReplyDeleteRon, I can see your point ... but I raise you and Joe this...
ReplyDeleteI'm flying into Forward Operating Base Semper Fi and on my mission profile I have to carry in Food, Water, Ammunition and a Squad of Marines to reinforce the base.
I can get all that on one CH-53 or CH-47 or I can take 3 Blackhawks.
Which would you choose?
To answer your question it depends on the situation en route. If there is an active threat from ground fire then it makes 'tactical' sense to spread the load onto the Blackhawks yes. But the issue in Af is not just that but simple carrying capacity like I said. Don't underestimate the effect on the conditions on the machines. Case in point is the UK Army Lynx fleet which is pretty much useless in summer and not too much better anytime else. The effects on the Blackhawk are not that severe but it will certainly be felt. I would in fact put to you that the load from 1 CH-47 or CH-53 would probably take 6-8 UH-60's to ferry in daytime conditions. Practically thats 7 more air crews, a full complement of ground crews and a hell of lot more fuel to carry the same load. Its more a cost analysis than anything else. Its cheaper to load a big hauler with DASS than fly a whole company of Blackhawks.
ReplyDeleteIn ANY other theater, the Blackhawk is useful, in Afghanistan sadly the conditions just dont suit it.
oh i agree with you soloman, i was adding my argument as in addition to yours and the others, not to detract from them. i was just saying that in comaprision to the MV-22, the CH53 and CH47 are battle proven systems, the blackhawks are good, but i rather send one large complement in, if it needs defending, send a cobra as support.
ReplyDeleteIs the weapon show at minute 3.15 a WW2 English BREN or I am wrong???
ReplyDelete