The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem-rotor helicopter originally developed by American rotorcraft company Vertol and now manufactured by Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The Chinook is a heavy-lift helicopter that is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters. Its name, Chinook, is from the Native American Chinook people of Oregon and Washington state.
The Bell UH-1 Iroquois is a utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter. It is the first member of the prolific Huey family, as well as the first turbine-powered helicopter in service with the United States military.
The M2 machine gun or Browning .50 caliber machine gun is a heavy machine gun that was designed near the end of World War I by John Browning. While similar to Browning's M1919 Browning machine gun, which was chambered for the .30-06 cartridge, the M2 uses Browning's larger and more powerful .50 BMG cartridge. The design has had many designations; the official U.S. military designation for the infantry type is Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2, HB, Flexible. It has been used against infantry, light armored vehicles, watercraft, light fortifications, and low-flying aircraft.
A gunship is a military aircraft armed with heavy aircraft guns, primarily intended for attacking ground targets either as airstrike or as close air support.
The M60, officially the Machine Gun, Caliber 7.62 mm, M60, is a family of American general-purpose machine guns firing 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges from a disintegrating belt of M13 links. There are several types of ammunition approved for use in the M60, including ball, tracer, and armor-piercing rounds.
The M240 machine gun, officially the Machine Gun, 7.62 mm, M240, is the U.S. military designation for the FN MAG, a family of belt-fed, gas-operated medium machine guns that chamber the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge.
The M134 Minigun is an American 7.62×51mm NATO six-barrel rotary machine gun with a high rate of fire. It features a Gatling-style rotating barrel assembly with an external power source, normally an electric motor. The "Mini" in the name is in comparison to larger-caliber designs that use a rotary barrel design, such as General Electric's earlier 20 mm M61 Vulcan, and "gun" for the use of rifle ammunition as opposed to autocannon shells.
The United States military has developed a number of Helicopter Armament Subsystems since the early 1960s. 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. Various systems are still in use, though many have become obsolete.
Aerial rocket artillery is a type of armed helicopter unit that was part of the artillery component of the United States Army's two airmobile divisions during the Vietnam War. Controlled by division artillery and not the aviation group, the 2nd Battalion, 20th Artillery, 1st Cavalry Division and the 4th Battalion, 77th Artillery, 101st Airborne Division, along with Battery F, 79th Artillery, 1st Cavalry Division, were the only ARA units fielded during that conflict. The ARA concept disappeared from Army aviation by the mid-1970s, replaced by more generic attack aviation units.
The Bell 207 Sioux Scout is a modified Bell 47 helicopter, developed by Bell Helicopter under contract from the United States Army, as a proof-of-concept demonstrator for the Bell D-255 helicopter gunship design, featuring a tandem cockpit, stub wings, and a chin-mounted gun turret.
The Bell UH-1N Twin Huey is a medium military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace manufacturer Bell Helicopter. It is a member of the extensive Huey family, the initial version was the CUH-1N Twin Huey, which was first ordered by the Canadian Forces in 1968.
Operation Pony Express was the covert transportation of, and the provision of aerial support for, indigenous soldiers and material operating across the Laotian and North Vietnamese borders during the Vietnam War. It was provided by Sikorsky CH-3C helicopters of the US 20th Helicopter Squadron, the only USAF combat helicopter squadron in Vietnam, which had been transferred there in 1965 and was known as the "Pony Express".
An armed helicopter is a military helicopter equipped with aircraft ordnance. Most commonly, it is used for attacking targets on the ground. Such a helicopter could be either purposely designed for a ground-attack mission—in which case it would be more specifically categorized as an attack helicopter—or may have been previously designed for other uses, such as utility, air cargo, aerial reconnaissance, etc., with the weapons mounts being modifications, rather than part of the design of the helicopter. The purpose of the modification to an armed helicopter configuration can be field expediency during combat, the lack of military funding to develop or purchase attack helicopters, or the need to maintain the helicopter for missions that do not require the weapons.
The Bell UH-1 Iroquois military helicopter, first introduced in 1959, is the first production member of the prolific Huey family of helicopters, and was itself developed in over twenty variants, which are listed below.
The Experimental Military Unit (EMU) was a joint Australian-American company-sized helicopter assault force which operated during the Vietnam War. The unit was created in 1967 following a request from the United States military for Australia to send more helicopter pilots to the conflict. As the only available personnel were from the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Fleet Air Arm, the RAN Helicopter Flight Vietnam (RANHFV) was formed and integrated into the 135th Assault Helicopter Company of the United States Army. The EMU unit name was selected by the Americans as a backronym for the Australian bird, a choice which amused the Australians: despite being large, fast, and highly mobile, the emu cannot fly.
Simmons Army Airfield is a military use airport located in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is located on the southeast portion of Fort Liberty and supports the aviation needs of the XVIII Airborne Corps, the 82nd Airborne Division, Special Operations, U.S. Army Reserve and U.S. National Guard aviation units.
The U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence is the United States Army Aviation Branch's headquarters, and it's training and development center, located at Fort Novosel, Alabama. The Aviation Center of Excellence coordinates and deploys aviation operations and trains aviation officers in a variety of topics, including classroom navigation instruction, aircraft piloting, and basic combat. The current commanding general is Major General Michael C. McCurry II.
S&T Motiv K16, formerly known as S&T Motiv K12, is a 7.62×51mm NATO general-purpose machine gun manufactured by S&T Daewoo to replace M60 machine gun for Republic of Korea Armed Forces. The XK12 was first shown to the public in 2009, during the Seoul ADEX International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition. It was officially designated as K12 during the development stage, but it was re-designated as K16 as the mass production process began in 2021.
The 159th Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) formerly supported the 101st Airborne Division, and was stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. While active, 159th CAB made the 101st Airborne Division the only US Army Division with two organic aviation brigades, and currently the 101st CAB is the only CAB supporting the unit at Fort Campbell. The 159th CAB was inactivated on 15 May 2015.
Charles Seymour Kettles was a United States Army lieutenant colonel and a Medal of Honor recipient.
