John Hairell
May 13th 04, 07:23 PM
On Thu, 13 May 2004 03:22:27 GMT, R. David Steele
/OMEGA> wrote:
>Does anyone know much about the MH-6J Little Bird? It seems to
>be a very low cost (about a 10th of what an Apache costs)
>helicopter. Given our problems in Iraq, we need an affordable
>airframe that we can buy in numbers so that we can provide
>coverage to convoys and such.
>
>Plus, from what I have heard, this bird is far more quite than
>any of our other craft.
>
A Little Bird variant is being talked about in wake of the
cancellation of the Comanche. It could be that a significant
number of LBs (300+) suddenly get contracted for. I've also recently
seen an article which talked about a possibility of special ops
aviation going to 3 regiments versus 1, which will mean additional LBs
if that goes through.
The LBs are very quiet - the OH-6A was quiet, and the LB derivatives
(500MD and 530FF) with more rotor blades (5 or 6 depending on model)
have been even quieter. On the minus side they don't have a large load
capability, little room internally, and they have a relatively short
range. They also have little in self-protection equipment.
John Hairell )
/OMEGA> wrote:
>Does anyone know much about the MH-6J Little Bird? It seems to
>be a very low cost (about a 10th of what an Apache costs)
>helicopter. Given our problems in Iraq, we need an affordable
>airframe that we can buy in numbers so that we can provide
>coverage to convoys and such.
>
>Plus, from what I have heard, this bird is far more quite than
>any of our other craft.
>
A Little Bird variant is being talked about in wake of the
cancellation of the Comanche. It could be that a significant
number of LBs (300+) suddenly get contracted for. I've also recently
seen an article which talked about a possibility of special ops
aviation going to 3 regiments versus 1, which will mean additional LBs
if that goes through.
The LBs are very quiet - the OH-6A was quiet, and the LB derivatives
(500MD and 530FF) with more rotor blades (5 or 6 depending on model)
have been even quieter. On the minus side they don't have a large load
capability, little room internally, and they have a relatively short
range. They also have little in self-protection equipment.
John Hairell )