Grumman OV-1 Mohawk

Last updated
OV-1 Mohawk
Mohawk OV-1 Factsheet (cropped).jpg
US Army OV-1D Mohawk
General information
TypeLight attack and observation aircraft
National originUnited States
Manufacturer Grumman
StatusRetired
Primary users United States Army
Number built380
History
Manufactured1959–1970
Introduction dateOctober 1959
First flight14 April 1959
Retired1996 (United States)
2015 (Argentina)

The Grumman OV-1 Mohawk is an American armed military observation and attack aircraft that was designed for battlefield surveillance and light strike capabilities. It has a twin turboprop configuration, and carries two crew members in side-by-side seating. The Mohawk was intended to operate from short, unimproved runways in support of United States Army maneuver forces.

Contents

Development

Operational history

United States Army

The U.S. Army flew the OV-1 operationally in the Vietnam War, with sixty-five lost to accidents and ground fire, and one shot down by a North Vietnamese fighter. [2]

In early 1968, while flying an OV-1 over South Vietnam, U.S. Army Captain Ken Lee shot down a MiG-17 “Fresco” fighter jet with his XM14 .50 in. (12.7 mm) caliber gun pods as well as two M159 unguided rocket pods, becoming the only Army Aviator to ever down a MiG. Due to the Key West Agreement, the Army tried to keep the shootdown a secret for fear that it would allow the USAF to transfer Mohawks to its inventory. Lee's kill was finally formally recognized by the Army in 2007. [3]

The Army also used the aircraft during Operation Desert Storm.

Starting in 1972, the Army National Guard (ARNG) began to receive the Mohawk, with the ARNG eventually operating thirteen OV-1Bs, twenty-four OV-1Cs, and sixteen OV-1Ds serving with three aviation units in Georgia and Oregon. The Oregon Army National Guard Unit operating the Mohawk was located at McNary Field in Oregon, initially as the 1042nd Military Intelligence Company (Aerial Surveillance), then reflagged as the 641st Military Intelligence Battalion (CEWI)(Aerial Exploitation).

U.S. Army OV-1s were retired from Europe in 1992, from South Korea in September 1996, and finally in the United States in 1996, superseded by newer systems, newer aircraft, and the evolution of reconnaissance satellites. The OV-1 was primarily replaced by the EO-5C, a militarized version of the de Havilland Canada Dash 7 turboprop airliner equipped with a SLAR system, until the U.S. Air Force's Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint STARS (Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System) aircraft became fully operational.

As of 2011, Alliant Techsystems partnered with the Broadbay Group and Mohawk Technologies of Florida in a venture to return an armed, modernized version of the OV-1D to operational use as a counter-insurgency aircraft. A demonstrator was equipped with a FLIR Star Safire turret and a ventral, trainable M230 chain gun. [4] [5]

Argentine Army

The Argentine Army Aviation received twenty-three OV-1s in the 1990s. Ten were operational and the rest were used for spare parts. [6] They became inactive and retired from use in 2015.

Accidents and incidents

On 1 November 2019, a Grumman OV-1D Mohawk operated by Mohawk Airshows crashed at Witham Field, Stuart, Florida, during the Stuart Air Show. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot was killed. Its serial number was 68-15958. [7]

On 14 January 1981, a Grumman OV-1D Mohawk crashed and burned in a rural area near Lampasas, Texas during a maintenance test flight out of Fort Hood, Texas for engine rigging and nose gear strut replacement. The Inertial Navigation System had stretched a wire/pulled a pin at a computer connector and the pin re-locked. Pilot CW3 Sandy L. Oliphant and SSG Roger A. Meadows were killed instantly. [8] [9] [10]

Variants

OV-1 Mohawk variants Grumman OV-1 mohawk variants silhouettes.png
OV-1 Mohawk variants
OV-1A Mohawk OV-1 Mohawk.jpg
OV-1A Mohawk
OV-1D Mohawk SLAR variant Grumman OV-1D Mohawk (G-134), USA - Army AN1188459.jpg
OV-1D Mohawk SLAR variant
YAO-1 (YOV-1A)
Initial prototypes (9 built).
OV-1A (AO-1AF)
Daylight observation variant (64 built). Short wingspan (42 ft). [11]
OV-1A - Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics
Fitted with two additional Westinghouse J34 jet engines. A non-flying, mixed-power, testbed, operated by the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics (1 conversion). [12]
OV-1B (AO-1BF)
SLAR variant (101 built). Long wingspan (48 ft). [11]
OV-1C (AO-1CF)
IR reconnaissance variant (169 built). Short wingspan (42 ft). [11]
OV-1D
Consolidated sensor variant (37 new, 82 conversions). Long wingspan (48 ft). [11]
JOV-1A
OV-1As and OV-1Cs fitted with armament (59 conversions).
RV-1C
Quick Look ELINT machines (two conversions).
RV-1D
Quick Look II ELINT machine (31 conversions).
EV-1E
Quick Look III ELINT machine (16 conversions).
OV-1E
Prototype for unproduced modernized variant (1 built).

Operators

Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina
Flag of Israel.svg  Israel
Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States

Surviving aircraft

OV-1D Mohawk at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon EvergreenOV-1D.jpg
OV-1D Mohawk at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon
OV-1D Mohawk at the Cavanaugh Flight Museum Cavanaugh Flight Museum-2008-10-29-043 (4270575312).jpg
OV-1D Mohawk at the Cavanaugh Flight Museum

Airworthy

Static display

Mohawk OV-1 Observation Aircraft on display Mississippi Armed Forces Museum MAFM Mohawk OV1 Observation Aircraft.jpg
Mohawk OV-1 Observation Aircraft on display Mississippi Armed Forces Museum

Specifications (OV-1D)

Grumman OV-1A Mohawk 3-view OV-1 orthographical image.svg
Grumman OV-1A Mohawk 3-view

Data fromJane's Civil and Military Aircraft Upgrades 1994–95 [54]

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

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References

Notes
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Bibliography

The initial version of this article was based on a public domain article from Greg Goebel's Vectorsite.

Further reading

Printed sources
Online sources