top 10 amazing helicopters of the us military ever since they entered service in large numbers
with different militaries in the 1940s 1950s period helicopters have been an indispensable
tool of war and peace whether it is casualty evacuation troop transport disaster relief or
airborne fire support helicopters are at the center of it all the technology used in
helicopters has grown to such a level that it is now possible to make hybrid helicopter airplanes
advanced attack helicopters and super heavy transports while most of the western
countries have made their own helicopters the us and russia still reigns supreme with their
vast fleets of helicopters of every category imaginable this list examines some of the most
diverse range of american helicopters which have played their part in the helicopter revolution
this is the first of our three-part series and the top helicopters of the russian military and
the european militaries will be covered in future articles the list is in chronological
order with the year of the first flight being taken as a reference date so sit tight and
strap your seat belts while we go on a journey to meet those rotary winged beauties and beasts
number one bell uh one huey pretty much synonymous with technology vietnam war the uh-1 was a
simple and practical helicopter design which achieved legendary status due to its exploits
it was rugged inexpensive and just the thing the us army needed to deliver thousands of troops
in the middle of dense north vietnamese jungles powered by a single engine the uh-1 could carry
10 to 14 troops into battle the main armament was the m60 machine gun mounted on either door
which was operated by a gunner to protect the pilots from ground fire the seats were armored and
the crew was issued with body armor for additional protection during dangerous missions number two
sikorsky sh-3c king the us navy faced a major problem during the early decades of the cold war
the soviet union built a fleet of over 200 submarines and tracking them was getting
extremely difficult and troublesome the sea king which first flew in 1959 was the solution to that
problem it was a huge naval helicopter for that time and debuted a number of features including
turboshaft engines and an amphibious design which would allow it to land on water to perform
its primary duty of hunting submarines it was equipped with a dipping sonar dozens of sauna boys
magnetic anomaly detector depth charges and torpedoes its long endurance coupled with its
vast array of anti-submarine attachments made it the most capable and widely used asw helicopter
of the 20th century the sea king was licensed produced by japan italy and the united kingdom
where it served locally and was also exported to friendly countries the uk developed an airborne
early warning variant of the sea king after their bitter experiences in the falklands and this is
one of the most unique modifications of this helicopter although it has been retired by the
us navy and replaced fully by the seahawk the sea king continues to serve in the navies of brazil
india spain iran and italy number three boeing ch-47 chinook again we have a helicopter which
was developed during the vietnam and survives to this day in a modern avatar the ch-47 chinook has
a unique tandem rotor design which allows maximum utilization of the power generated by the engines
to lift the helicopter since there is no tail rotor all the power is sent to the two main
rotors which rotate in opposite directions at different elevations this gives the chinook the
ability to carry large payloads to high altitudes with the ability to carry a 24 000 pound that's 10
800 kilogram load under slung 20 000 pounds 9 000 kilogram inside the cabin or alternatively 55
troops seated internally the chinook is a massive flying truck one of the mind-blowing stunts that
chanu can perform is a water extraction known as the delta queen maneuver unofficially this
basically involves the chinook touching down on the water surface opening its rear ramp door
and allowing water to flood in so that a special forces boat can smoothly ride into the helicopter
to be safely lifted out of the water the other move for which the chinook is famous for is the
pinnacle maneuver which involves insertion and extraction of troops from a cliff or a ledge with
only the rear wheels touching the ground while the helicopter is still hovering this rugged heavy
lifter is expected to remain in service till the 2060s that is a hundred years after it first flew
number four sikorsky s64 sky crane well who would have thought that you could make a crane fly
well that is precisely what the designers at sikorsky had in mind while designing the
sikorsky s64 sky crane built like a skeleton this weird looking contraption can haul massive loads
underneath its seemingly delicate frame the large area between its tall legs has a crane which can
lift a bulky payload weighing as much as twenty five thousand pounds that's eleven thousand three
hundred kilogram with ease the civil version has built several thousand miles of power transmission
lines the helicopter proved its usefulness with its ability to lay transmission towers in a wide
variety of terrain the firefighting version has a capacity of 2650 gallons that's 10 000 liters of
water and is used in fighting forest fires another popular use of this helicopter is for logging
yes you heard it right the massive lift capability offered by the sky crane makes it a lucrative
option to carry logs from inaccessible forests back to civilization to be processed presently
it remains one of a kind has no competition in the market and is still in production number five
sikorsky ch-53 stallion this is the largest helicopter in the us inventory with a payload
capacity of over fourteen thousand pounds that's six thousand three hundred and fifty kilograms
for the initial twin engine version it could haul an equivalent weight of four fully grown rhinos
the us military uses this helicopter for troop transport special forces insertion
casualty evacuation and to lift heavy vehicles like trucks the ch-53 being a primarily marine
helicopter has a watertight hull which enables it to land safely on water in an emergency situation
the earliest variants entered service during the vietnam war and the most recent variant
will now enter production this again proves the longevity of american helicopter designs
number six bell ah-1 cobra developed from the uh-1 to urgently fulfill the role
of an armored helicopter which could fire guns rockets and missiles the ah-1 was the world's
first dedicated attack helicopter it was pressed into service in vietnam and saw extensive combat
its slender profile tandem seating and great agility made it a very effective platform
for providing aerial fire support the cobra was initially armed with 7.62 millimeter miniguns 40
millimeter grenade launchers and rockets which allowed it to take out hidden targets through
the jungle canopy the viet cong could have been terrified of the venom spitting cobras which could
sneak up on them and destroy anything in its path they proved themselves to be so useful that over
a thousand cobras were built over a period of four years during the vietnam war it lives on this day
in the form of the u.s marine corps ah-1z viper which is a heavily upgraded version of the ah-1
number 7 sikorsky uh-60 blackhawk sh-6070 seahawk after the era of the huey came the
era of the blackhawk the backbone of the u.s army tactical transport the blackhawk was developed as
a high-tech bigger and more powerful replacement for the uh-1 huey having entered service in 1979
the blackhawk has become famous due to the 1993 incident in mogadishu somalia where two of them
were shot down in an urban combat environment resulting in the blackhawk down phrase spreading
widely including being the title of a movie on the same incident the uh-60 has a payload of 2600
pounds that's 1200 kilograms internally or 9000 pounds that's 4 100 kilograms externally slung
underneath its cabin can accommodate a maximum of 12 troops or six stretchers for medical evacuation
the blackhawk is a very versatile helicopter and has evolved into dozens of variants
including the famous stealth hawk which carried out the famous operation neptune spear the other
important variant is the naval sh-60 seahawk which is the present mainstay of the u.s navy for
anti-submarine anti-surface transport and search and rescue missions several seahawks are embarked
on each u.s navy aircraft carrier and amphibious assault ships whereas their destroyers carry a
standard complement of two seahawks the sh-60 is equipped with a powerful surface search radar
dipping sonar sauna boys and can carry torpedoes anti-ship missiles and depth chargers to engage
ships and submarines both variants have had export success and are in service with over 20 countries
number eight boeing ah-64 apache widely accepted as the most advanced attack helicopter in service
today the apache has formed the backbone of u.s military ground operations for over three decades
it was developed as a replacement for the ah-1 in the u.s army in a bid to make it survivable on a
dangerous battlefield the apache has armor which allows it to withstand hits from 23-millimeter
anti-aircraft guns and a self-sealing fuel tank which prevents leakage of fuel in case the tank is
hit armed with 16 hellfire missiles the apache is the ultimate task buster these advanced missiles
are guided by laser and can destroy targets at distances of over 5 miles alternatively it can
carry rocket pods to engage unarmored targets there is a 30 millimeter cannon under the nose
which can fire at a rate of 300 rounds per minute stinger missiles can be fitted as well
which allowed the apache to destroy serial targets in the late 90s the longbow radar was installed
which allowed the apache to take out targets from behind cover without exposing itself to the enemy
the helicopter is thus an all-around weapon system which can wreak havoc on the battlefield
number nine bell v22 osprey the osprey is the ultimate transformer and is something straight
out of a sci-fi movie while taking off it looks like a helicopter with side-by-side propellers
nothing unusual there but the magic starts a few seconds after it lifts off from the ground like a
normal helicopter the rotor blades start to tilt forward with the wing and as your jaw drops the
helicopter is now a twin propeller aeroplane this transformer technology is not just a visual treat
but it has immense practical value as well that's why the us military is operating this aircraft and
has ordered several hundreds of it the v-22 in the aircraft mode can travel twice as fast as a
regular helicopter this gives it a major advantage while transporting troops over hostile territory
while bringing back injured troops carrying out disaster relief operations and conducting special
forces insertion missions number 10 sikorsky s97 raider although it is not in service with the us
military this list would be incomplete without the incredible sikorsky s97 raider built to meet
a future u.s army requirement for an armed aerial scout the raider incorporates a lot
of new technologies which enable it to excel in the battlefield and outperform its competition
the most noticeable feature of the helicopter is its coaxial rotor system which is typically
found on the russian kamov helicopters and the pusher propeller this design provides a
major improvement over a conventional helicopter design as no energy is wasted trying to counter
the rotation of the main rotor using a tail rotor instead the coaxial rotors cancel out each other's
torque and provide the required lift while the pusher propeller provides the forward thrust
which gives it the extra push needed to fly faster than its contemporaries