Marine helicopter pilots have the distinction of flying some of the oldest and some of the newest helicopters in the US inventory. A career as a Marine helicopter pilot offers excitement, challenge, and adventure. The Marines operate a variety of different helicopters each performing its own specific mission.
The AH-1Z Cobra is an attack helicopter whose lineage can be traced back to Vietnam. The Cobra can carry an assortment of ammunition including but not limited to machine guns, cannons, rockets, air to ground missiles and air to air missiles. The cobra carries out a number of different functions. It supports marines on the ground. It attacks enemy armor, troops, and fortified positions. It also escorts other helicopters into landing zones where hostile fire is expected. Because of its thin profile the cobra can be very difficult to target by gunners on the ground. The Cobra has a crew of two pilots.
The UH-1 Huey is another helicopter that can not only trace is lineage back to Vietnam but was made famous by Vietnam. The Huey is used for utility missions. That's everything from ferrying troops and cargo to transporting VIPs. The Huey has a crew of three, two pilots and a crew chief.
Next is the CH-46 Sea Knight. The Sea Knight is a medium lift, tandem rotor (one rotor behind the other) helicopter. The Sea Knight is primarily an assault helicopter. It can operate in day or night under all weather conditions. The Sea Knight also has a secondary cargo carrying capacity. The Sea Knight's crew consists of two pilots, a crew chief and an aerial observer/gunner. The maximum speed of the Sea Knight is 165 mph and it has a combat radius of 184mi.
The CH-53E is next and it's the largest helicopter in the US inventory. The CH-53E is nicknamed the Super Sea Stallion. The CH-53 is used primarily for heavy lift. It's able to lift the LAV 25 Light Armored Fighting Vehicle, the M198 155mm Howitzer and it is able to recover every aircraft in the Marine inventory with the exception of the KC-130. Even though it's primary job is heavy lift the CH-53 is also used for assault missions. The CH-53 crew consists of two pilots, a crew chief/right gunner, a left gunner, and a tail gunner. It's able to carry a maximum of 55 troops. Its maximum speed is 180 mph and its range is 610 nm.
The last helicopter in the Marine inventory isn't really a helicopter at all. Technically it's called a tilt-rotor. It's the MV-22 Osprey. It's officially known as a powered lift vehicle, which means it can take off, and land vertically but behaves differently from a helicopter in horizontal flight. It combines the vertical landing capabilities of a helicopter with the speed of a fixed wing turboprop airplane. This aircraft will revolutnize marine amphibious operations by giving the marines a platform that can take off from a ship like a helicopter, dash to its target at over 300 mph and once there land vertically. The crew consists of two pilots, and a crew chief. The Osprey can carry a maximum of 32 troops or 10,000 pounds of cargo. The MV-22 has a maximum speed of 320 mph and a combat radius of almost 400 miles.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét