jfb@ihlpm.att.com (Joseph F Baugher) (09/14/90)
From: jfb@ihlpm.att.com (Joseph F Baugher) Number twenty-three in the series--The Apache antiarmor helicopter: McDonnell Douglas AH-64 Apache Engine: Two General Electric T700-GE-701 turboshafts, 1690 shp. Performance: Maximum speed: 191 mph. Maximum inclined climb rate: 3200 ft/min. Hovering ceiling out of ground effect: 11,800 feet Service ceiling: 21,000 feet Maximum range: 425 miles. Weights: Empty weight: 9900 pounds Normal loaded weight: 13,600 pounds Maximum takeoff weight: 17,400 pounds Armament: One single-barrel MDHC M230 30-mm cannon suspended in a mount beneath the forward fuselage. Eight BGM-71A TOW or 16 AGM-114 Hellfire missiles mounted on strongpoints under stubby "wings" attached to the fuselage sides. Stinger, Sidewinder and Mistral AAMs can be integrated with the weapons system. Electronics: There is a multiple sensor mounted in the extreme nose that includes a laser designator. Remarks: Crew of two (weapons operator and pilot) seated in tandem. The M230 cannon was designed especially for the Apache helicopter. It is a single-barrel gun with a rotating bolt mechanically driven by an external motor and a chain. The ammunition for the gun is stored in a 1200-round flat box near center of gravity. Unlinked rounds are fed along the right side by an endless conveyor system. The rate of fire is 625 rounds per minute. The gun is slaved to the helicopter's sensors or to the crew's integrated helmet and display sighting system. The gun can be cued to fire at what either the pilot or the weapons operator is looking at. The gun can swing 100 degrees left or right, and 11 degrees up and 60 degrees down. The "chain gun" is completely exposed under the fuselage in all sorts of weather. I wonder how vulnerable it is to being jammed by rust, corrosion, moisture, dust, etc. The AGM-114 Hellfire laser-guided antitank missile can attain supersonic speeds. Its range is classified. The warhead is 20-pound hollow charge. The seeker in the nose has a Cassegrain telescope which sends electronic signals to the microprocessor- controlled guidance system. Hellfires can be launched without prior lock-on, some of them in rapid-fire homing on different targets using ground designators with individual coding. This makes it possible for the Hellfire to be fired from behind cover at targets designated by lasers. There were reports of extreme accuracy of the laser-guided Hellfire missiles fired by the Apache during the Panama operation. One helicopter crew claimed to have been able to put a Hellfire right through a window where pro-Noreiga snipers were lurking. The BGM-71 TOW (Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire- guided) antitank missile weighs 46 pounds and has a warhead consisting of an 8.6 lb. shaped charge. The missile is launched from a tube. The boost charge pops the missile out out of the tube, the four wings and the four tail controls pop out. The guidance commands are generated by the optical sensor in the sight, which continually measures the position of a light source on the missile relative to the line of sight and sends steering commands along the wires that trail out behind the missile. The range of the missile is 500-3750 meters. The TOW first saw service in Vietnam. It was used effectively by the Israelis in the Yom Kippur War of 1973. The TOW 2 has an improved warhead which is triggered by a long probe which gives improved standoff distance for greater armor penetration. It is designed to defeat tanks equipped with reactive armor. During the Panama invasion, there were reports of frequent mechanical failures among Apache helicopters involved in the attack. Sources: Various issues of Aviation Week Various issues of Defense Electronics The Observer's Book of Aircraft, William Green. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft Armament, Bill Gunston Joe Baugher ************************************* AT&T Bell Laboratories * "Captain, I can do many things * 200 Park Plaza * for ye, but I canna change the * Naperville, Illinois 60566-7050 * laws of physics." * (708) 713 4548 ************************************* ihlpm!jfb jfb200@cbnewsd.att.com Who, me? Speak for AT&T? Surely you jest!