Bell AH-1W Super Cobra "Whiskey Cobra "

[kev2go 5,112]

AH-1W Super Cobra 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cockpits

 

 

Spoiler

 

Pilots cockpit 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Manual Layout

 

 

 

 

Gunners cockpit

 

 

 

 

manual layout

 

 

 

 

General characteristics

 

Crew: 2: pilot, co-pilot/gunner (CPG)

Length: 58 ft (17.7 m) (with both rotors turning)

Rotor diameter: 48 ft (14.6 m)

Height: 13 ft 9 in (4.19 m)

Disc area: 1809 ft² (168.1 m²)

Empty weight: 10,200 lb (4,630 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 14,750 lb (6,690 kg)

Rotor systems: 2 blades on main rotor, 2 blades on tail rotor

Fuselage length: 45 ft 7 in (13.9 m)

Stub wing span: 10 ft 9 in (3.28 m)

Powerplant: 2 × General Electric T700-401 turboshaft, 1,690 shp (1,300 kW) each

Performance

Maximum speed: 190 knots (218 mph, 352 km/h)

Range: 317 nmi (365 mi, 587 km)

Service ceiling: 12,200 ft (3,720 m)

Rate of climb: 1,620 ft/min (8.2 m/s)

 

Armament

 

20 mm (0.787 in) M197 3-barreled Gatling cannon in the A/A49E-7 turret (750 rounds ammo capacity)

2.75 in (70 mm) Hydra 70 or APKWS II rockets ( post 2012 Upgrade) – Mounted in LAU-68C/A (7 shot) or LAU-61D/A (19 shot) launchers

5 in (127 mm) Zuni rockets – 8 rockets in two 4-round LAU-10D/A launchers

TOW missiles – Up to 8 missiles mounted in two 4-round XM65 missile launchers, one on each outboard hardpoint

AGM-114 Hellfire missiles – Up to 8 missiles mounted in two 4-round M272 missile launchers, one on each outboard hardpoint

AGM-122 Sidearm ( up to a total of 2) - Is a short ranged  Anti radiation missile ( Anti Radar/radar assisted SPAA/ SAM) development from Old storage of Aim9C sidewinder missiles modified for its purpose with replacement of seeker head.

AIM-9 Sidewinder  missiles ( Aim9L or Aim9M)  – 1 mounted on each outboard hardpoint (total of 2)

 

 

 

Diagram of Dimensions

 

 

 

 

 

 

Development History

 

 

Spoiler

The AH-1 Cobra was developed in the mid-1960s as an interim gunship for the U.S. Army for use during the Vietnam War. The Cobra shared the proven transmission, rotor system, and the T53 turboshaft engine of the UH-1 "Huey". By June 1967, the first AH-1G HueyCobras had been delivered. Bell built 1,116 AH-1Gs for the U.S. Army between 1967 and 1973, and the Cobras chalked up over a million operational hours in Vietnam.

 

The U.S. Marine Corps was very interested in the AH-1G Cobra, but it preferred a twin-engine version for improved safety in over-water operations, and also wanted a more potent turret-mounted weapon. At first, the Department of Defense had balked at providing the Marines with a twin-engine version of the Cobra, in the belief that commonality with Army AH-1Gs outweighed the advantages of a different engine fit. However, the Marines won out and awarded Bell a contract for 49 twin-engine AH-1J SeaCobras in May 1968. As an interim measure, the U.S. Army passed on 38 AH-1Gs to the Marines in 1969.[3] The AH-1J also received a more powerful gun turret. It featured a three barrel 20 mm XM197 cannon that was based on the six barrel M61 Vulcan cannon.

 

 

An AH-1T Sea Cobra launching from the amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima.

The Marine Corps requested greater load carrying capability in high temperatures for the Cobra in the 1970s. Bell used systems from its Model 309 to develop the AH-1T. This version had a lengthened tailboom and fuselage with an upgraded transmission and engines from the 309. Bell designed the AH-1T to be more reliable and easier to maintain in the field. The version was given full TOW missile capability with targeting system and other sensors. An advanced version, known as the AH-1T+ with more powerful T700-GE-700 engines and advanced avionics was proposed to Iran in the late 1970s, but the overthrow of the Shah of Iran resulted in the sale being canceled.

 

The evolution : AH1W is born

 

In the early 1980s, the U.S. Marine Corps sought a new navalized helicopter, but it was denied funding to buy the AH-64 Apache by Congress in 1981. The Marines in turn pursued a more powerful version of the AH-1T. Other changes included modified fire control systems to carry and fire AIM-9 Sidewinder and AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. The new version was funded by Congress and received the AH-1W designation. Deliveries of AH-1W Super Cobras totaled 179 new-built helicopters plus 43 upgrades of AH-1Ts. Operational Service began in 1986, with a list of moderate Upgrades being incorporated into Fleet of AH-1W's  up until the late 90s, before initiation of the H1 program to begin development of what would become its successor : the AH1Z Viper

 

 

Operational History

 

During the Gulf War, 78 Marine SuperCobras  were deployed, and flew a total of 1,273 sorties in Iraq with no combat losses. However, three AH-1s were lost to accidents during and after the combat operations. The AH-1W units were credited with destroying 97 tanks, 104 armored personnel carriers and vehicles, and two anti-aircraft artillery sites during the 100-hour ground campaign.

 

Marine Cobras provided support for the US humanitarian intervention in Somalia, during Operation Restore Hope in 1992–93. They were also employed during the U.S. invasion of Haiti in 1994. USMC Cobras were used in U.S. military interventions in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, and two AH-1Ws assisted in the rescue of USAF Captain Scott O'Grady, after his F-16 was shot down by a SAM in June 1995.[10]

 

AH-1 Cobras continue to operate with the U.S. Marine Corps. USMC Cobras were also used in operations throughout the 1990s.USMC Cobras have also served in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and in Operation Iraqi Freedom in the conflict in Iraq. While new replacement aircraft were considered as an alternative to major upgrades of the AH-1 fleet, Marine Corps studies showed that an upgrade was the most affordable, most supportable and most effective solution for the Marine Corps light attack helicopter mission.

 

During the March 2003 Iraq campaign, 46 of 58 USMC Cobras took battle damage, mostly from infantry-type weapons.

 

On 19 September 2011, an AH-1W crashed during training exercises at Camp Pendleton, California, killing the two Marine crew members on board. An investigation into the crash determined that it was caused by bird strike. The aircraft collided with a red-tailed hawk, the impact damaging the pitch change link which in turn produced vibrations to the rotors so fierce that they caused the transmission and rotors to break off from the helicopter body.

 

Final Combat Deployment

 

In late August 2016, a numbers of Marine AH-1W Cobras flying from USS Wasp started flying combat missions over Sirte, Libya against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Libya, providing close air support for friendly militias on the ground. In the later stages of the operation, AH-1Ws flew combat missions from the deck of USS San Antonio after that ship replaced Wasp in October 2016.

 

 

 

Retirement

 

In 2017 the last remaining Ah1W were put into a Reserve squadron service,  thus being withdrawn from active duty service once and for all. With the AH1Z Vipers have been steadily been replacing the Ah1W's for a numbers of years since its Official Service date in 2010. The Ah1W was formally retired in 2018 with entire USMC attack  fleet now being replaced with the AH1Z Viper.  The very last  remaining AH1W  Super Cobra flown by Marine Light attack training Squadron (HMLAT-303) conducted its final flight in February 6th 2018,  departing  Camp Pendelton and flying to  USMC maintenance and Regeneration Plant   ( aka boneyard). 

 

 

 

 

 

Personal Thoughts and Analysis

 

 

I believe these Ah1W is quite an iconic Helicopter and fill quite the Gap from the AH1F to the AH1Z. the Most significant being the Super Corbras  is the family of Dual Engined Helicopters to the Single Engined Cobras that the US army used.

 

Ah1W has quite a long service life from 1986 - 2017. The variant in question as based off the manual  given the  Revised changes based on Upgrades to the AH1W since its 1986 introduction would be representative of a late 90s-  early 2000s helicopter. ThIs Super Cobra has a embded GPS aided navigation ( But lacks Moving Map display) , which is displayed and integrated via the CDU ( This avionic is actually quite similar to what was installed to the A10A+ and carried over to the A10C),  CDU are installed in the both the pilots and gunner cockpits, the Gunner/ Copilot has a Multifunction Display, and the AH1W has a FLIR targeting sensor for acquisition and targeting of guided muntions. LIke the preceding Single engined US army Ah1F, the Ah1W  Super Cobtra does have HUD, as well as the off bore sight Helmet Sight targeting/slewing system for the Gun.

 

What perhaps will be relevant to war thunder if potentially more modern AAA get added or more complex mechanics represented would be the Radar warning receiver, Laser Warning Device, as well a its Flares/Chaffs Countermeasures system

 

Perhaps ( for a later thread), but worth mentioning  there may be a  be a change in trees to reflect the Reality of the situation. the Ah1F was the US Army's Branch  last Cobra, They eventually retired that and went towards the Ah64 Apache family. The USMC stayed with the Cobra family, and Would have used the AH1W, until the adoption of Ah1Z Viper, which as of this writing is the US factions top tier helicopter.

 

 

New Armament  for consideration : APKWS II

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

The APKWS II ( Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System)  started being integrated via upgrades unto various platforms in the US armed forces, First achieving  IOC with USMC in 2012 , and being deployed for use in Afghanistan in the same year . With the following years Other branches of the US military evaluated and put this system into service . the AH1W was  is one of the platform that had got this capability, even as the AH1Z was already being introduced.

 

 Systems of Integration :

 

 

 

APKWS  are  literally 2.75 Hydra rockets taken and converted into Laser Guided  missiles  , as a cost saving measure  to fill the gap between Unguided munitions and Full on  expensive Tank Busting Missiles like the Hellfire. According to the  BAE ( the Manufacturer) this is a Simple " plug and Play"  upgrade, and thus is simple and quick to incorporate into any  rotary or Fixed wing platform  that has a Targeting camera coupled with laser Designator.

 

The range of APKWS is up to a max distance of  5 Kilometers for rotary winged aircraft.

 

 

 

 

Sources

 

 

AH-1W  Super Cobra, NATOPS Flight manual , October 31st 1997. (personal Copy)

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1bY9k0Ian47CwBR8Sh_2EjCoBs96Yo9JL

 

 

Secondary Sources

 

 

http://www.military-today.com/helicopters/ah1w_super_cobra.htm

 

https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=14

 

https://www.army-technology.com/projects/supcobra/

 

http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/17810/pentagon-to-sell-off-its-ah-1w-super-cobra-attack-helicopter-fleet

Edited September 30, 2018 by kev2go

[SAUBER_KH7 3,326]

Open for Discussion.

[FoxBetty 143]

My favorite hely but only with "vertical" exhausts like they are shown in dimension diagram, not the "horizontal" like first picture and AH-1Z ver.

[UNIT_normal 804]

AH-1F is 9.7 and even UH-1C is 9.7. AH-1Z is 10.0. There is no place for AH-1W unless Gaijin chages BR of this game.

[kev2go 5,112]

19 hours ago, UNIT_normal said:

AH-1F is 9.7 and even UH-1C is 9.7. AH-1Z is 10.0. There is no place for AH-1W unless Gaijin chages BR of this game.

 

i can see your point but having multiple aircraft at the same b.r level isnt a reason to exclude inclusion of others. Look at air forces.

 

 USAF lineup F86A, F86F25, F86F2 ( all 9.0 b.r )

 

US navy branch  F9F2, F9F5, F9F8  (9.0 b.r)

 

 

USSR : Mig15, Mig15bis, Mig17 (9.0 b.r) 

 

 

But thats why i vaguely suggested splitting the attack helicopters into USMC/Naval Helicopter lineup, and US Army Lineup.  This will become more and more viable option when we get more helicopters from both services. It will not make sense to have Ah1F mixed with AH1W or AH1Z mixed or succeeded by the AH64D

Edited September 30, 2018 by kev2go

[CK_16 791]

As long as we get this camo option!

[Iron_physik 3,485]

would be a neat addition!

 

I have one as 1/72 revel model and would love to see more cobras in WT
(sadly my cat broke it.... )

[Milocat 4,857]

Would be a good additional Cobra to have, so +1.  

 

(Probably would have been a better final Cobra than the very modern AH-1Z, but I digress.)

[VeeEx 168]

Yes to the AH-1W, AH-1T and AH-1J. 

 

Also want to see AH-1S (MOD) so we have something between the G and the F (the major type that faced the Warpac in the late 70's till the early 80's).

[Wilhuff_Tarkin_ 467]

+1

[PaganMin_ 483]

On 30/09/2018 at 04:32, UNIT_normal said:

AH-1F is 9.7 and even UH-1C is 9.7. AH-1Z is 10.0. There is no place for AH-1W unless Gaijin chages BR of this game.

Why? There are already several planes and tanks on the same BR (T-54, F-86, F-9F, Mig-15/17, Meteor etc) with different performances. I don't see a problem.

[_TyS_ 134]

I don't want anymore us helicopters until every nation has them and they all have a heli equal the ah1z. Also, I would prefer Gaijin fix helicopters so they stop ruining tank rb. I honestly would like helicopters removed all together but Gaijin wont do that. 

[PaganMin_ 483]

9 minutes ago, _Tyger_ said:

I don't want anymore us helicopters until every nation has them and they all have a heli equal the ah1z. Also, I would prefer Gaijin fix helicopters so they stop ruining tank rb. I honestly would like helicopters removed all together but Gaijin wont do that. 

I didn't want them in the first place but since they are in the game now they should either go full on it or remove them which won't happen.

[SirScorpion 1,091]

IMO the most interesting cobra of them all +1

[Orphican 82]

+1 It seemed weird to jump from the AH-1F to the AH-1Z without adding this.

[traeng 147]

Adding the W would let us put better missiles on the Z and up its BR

At this stage, adding aim-9M to the AH-1Z would make sense. And put it on par with the apache.

Edited November 16, 2020 by traeng

[GomesPT 309]

The AH-1W Super Cobra should have been first introduced to the tech tree.
The AH-1W Super Cobra was one of the main helicopters in the USA and is still active, so it should be mandatorily deployed in the game.
I also agree that the AH-1Z Viper should be improved in weaponry and performance, which seems very slow compared to reality, being currently one of the best attack helicopters in the world, but in the game it falls far short of expectations ...

[霧 丹爪モ匕口丂 靄 466]

I think this has high chance to be added, because of Chinese Heli TT. They gonna give some RoC Helis to the tree and because of some cry babies they might not give their Apache any soon, so this is surely gonna be one of RoC Helis in that tree... And before that gotta be added in US Heli Tree behind the Viper in line.

[MCmaddawg 341]

Here's a picture of it carrying zuni rockets. I suppose there's no actual limitation on whether it can carry 2 or 4 pods, it's just that I haven't seen any pictures of them carrying 4 pods.

[GomesPT 309]

+1

[SoupMcT@psn 344]

On 15/03/2021 at 07:04, MCmaddawg said:

Here's a picture of it carrying zuni rockets. I suppose there's no actual limitation on whether it can carry 2 or 4 pods, it's just that I haven't seen any pictures of them carrying 4 pods.

 

The AH-1W could be a decent counter to the Mi-35 due to the ability to carry 8 TOWs or Hellfires, 36 Hydras, and 2 Aim-9Ls and could replace the AH-1Z at 10.0 due to it moving up to 10.3

[CokeSpray 7,274]

Suggestion passed to the developers for consideration.