Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!rutgers!att!cbnews!sheppard@caen.engin.umich.edu
From: sheppard@caen.engin.umich.edu (Ken  Sheppardson)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Air-to-Air Helicopter Combat
Summary: Sorry, I goofed...
Message-ID: <3338@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 21 Jan 89 02:08:43 GMT
References: <2880@cbnews.ATT.COM> <3037@cbnews.ATT.COM> <3117@cbnews.ATT.COM> <3278@cbnews.ATT.COM>
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Organization: U of M Engineering, Ann Arbor, Mich.
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I wasn't terribly clear in my last posting. Hopefully this will clear things
up and provide a little more info.

In article <3278@cbnews.ATT.COM>, I wrote:
> 
>> The standard load for years on the outermost pylons of the Apache is a
>> pair of Sidewinders.   
> 
>   No it's not.
>  
    [ While the Sidewinder has been TESTED on the Apache, it hasn't become   ]
    [ standard armament because -- for one thing -- the Army thinks it might ]
    [ tempt pilots to go looking for a fight instead of killing tanks like   ]
    [ they're supposed to be doing.                                          ]

>   The Apache carries up to 16 Hellfires mounted on pylons in groups of
>   four, or up to 4 2.75 in rocket pods, besides its permanently mounted 
>   head-tracked chain gun.
 
    [ Each 2.75 in Hydra pod carries 19 unguided missles ]

>[...]
>   The Apaches air-to-air combat capability has been demonstrated to the Army 
>   (against an AV-8B) and they were quite impressed.  Apache/Apache Air-to-air 
>   ( and I can only assume -- Apache/LHX and Apache/Hind ) is now quite common.

    [While the Apache has indeed been flown against the Harrier, the A/A A/LHX ]
    [and A/Hind have been/ will be SIMULATED air-to-air combat.  MDHC has      ]
    [several simulators connected for what they call "dome-to-dome".  Each of  ]
    [the domes can be "flying" a different flight model.                       ]

>   (Just do a hammerhead,Stop at the center of their turn, look at 'em, lead a 
>   little, and pull the trigger )

    [Hughes is investigating ways to make the Chain Gun more suitable for      ]
    [air-to-air combat, and Rockwell is looking at the feasability of giving   ]
    [the Hellfire an anti-helicopter capability by adding a proximity fuse and ]
    [modifying the control laws.                                               ]

>   NOTE : As a co-op at MDHC, I was never told just what I could talk about and
>          what I couldn't, so I guess I should say that these opinions are not
>          only not those of my former employer, but they may not even be my own.
> 
>                                              - Ken Sheppardson

                                             [  Ken Sheppardson                ]
                                             [  University of Michigan         ]
                                             [  Aerospace Engine Deptartment   ]