Why?
For one thing, the RAH-66 will be as nearly invisible to radar, audio, and infrared detection as modern technology can make it. For another, it is being engineered to be the most capable and survivable sensor system in the Army. But most important, it is designed to get the answer to the ground commander’s eternal question, “What’s on the other side of that hill?” Recall that General Franks had to commit the whole of VII Corps to combat with the Republican Guards on the basis of very limited information obtained in bad weather by a handful of young cavalry officers. Comanche is designed to cut through that “fog of battle.” It will use a combination of advanced sensors and electronics, stealth technology, and high maneuverability to find the enemy while itself remaining unseen.
Even before Desert Storm, the Army knew it needed such a helicopter. The replacement program, known as Light Helicopter-Experimental (LHX), was designed to fill in a single airframe the requirement for both a new scout helicopter and a light-attack helicopter. The Army Aviation Command at St. Louis, Missouri, selected two “superteams” of top contractors to design “paper” aircraft to compete for the final full-scale development contract. One team was led by McDonnell Douglas Helicopter and Bell Helicopter-Textron, while the other had Sikorsky and Boeing Helicopter as its principals. The competition was fierce, since this was clearly going to be the last big military helicopter contract of the 1990s, and orders for existing models were already dropping.
Both designs had two-man crews and employed stealth technology. The McDonnell Douglas/Bell design eliminated the tail rotor by using a ducted fan (called NOTAR, which stands for No TAil Rotor). The Boeing®-Sikorsky team used a ducted tail rotor called FANTAIL®.
In the end, the Boeing-Sikorsky team was selected to build the prototypes and to take the new helicopter, designated RAH-66 Comanche, into production. In 1993, the first structural components for the flying prototype were produced. Current plans put the first flight of the Comanche sometime in 1995, with the first unit to be fielded in 2003. The Army wants to buy some 1,300 RAH-66s to replace over 3,000 AH-1s, O/AH-6s, and OH-58A/C/Ds currently in service.
So just what will this new helicopter have in the way of features? Well, consider the following list:• Crew-The Comanche will carry a two-man crew in the same kind of tandem arrangement as the AH-64. The cockpits will be fully integrated with an array of programmable MFDs, which can be rapidly reconfigured in flight by the crew. In addition, the crew helmets and sights will be of a new lightweight design that will eliminate the bulky versions found on the Apache and other U.S. helicopters. Also, the whole compartment is ballistically protected and sealed with an environmental filtration/ overpressure system, for protection against nuclear, biological, and chemical contamination.
• Structure-The majority of the RAH-66 will be composed of fiber, carbon, and plastic composites. Metal components will be minimized, for both stealth and weight considerations. In addition, the Comanche is being built to the same standards of ballistic protection/tolerance as the AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Blackhawk.
• Engines-A new company, LHTEC (a joint venture by Garrett and Allison) of St. Louis, Missouri, will produce the uprated T-800 engines for the Comanche. The engine inlets are buried to reduce their radar signature, and the exhausts are cleverly concealed in the tail boom, where the hot gases are mixed with cooler ambient air and vented downward to reduce the Comanche’s IR signature. Rated at 1,380 shp each, the engines will probably be the standard power plants for all new U.S. light and medium helicopters well into the 21st century.
• Sensors-Comanche will carry a targeting and piloting system similar to the TADS/PNVS on the AH-64A. What will make the system on the RAH-66 different is that the thermal-imaging system will use “second-generation FLIR” technology. This means that the imaging elements have a much higher resolution and sensitivity than those currently deployed on U.S. weapons systems. The thermal pictures will be good enough for the onboard computer to positively identify a target (airborne or ground) solely from its thermal signature. This means that the system will automatically be able to tell the difference between an American M1A2 and a Soviet-designed T-72. In addition, all Comanches will be wired for installation of a Longbow radar on top of the rotor head. As with the AH-64C/D, the Comanche will have a modem to transmit data to other users on the network. About one RAH-66B (with Longbow) will be fielded for every three RAH-66As (without Longbow). Comanche will also carry a laser target designator and a full electronic-warfare suite, including radar-warning (RWR) and (eventually) jammer equipment.
• Flight Avionics-The flight avionics on Comanche will be the most comprehensive of any helicopter flying, including the Air Force Pave Low special-operations birds. Along with the now-standard GPS receiver, AHRS, SINCGARS radios, and other navigational gear, there will be a moving map display right out of a James Bond movie to help the crew maintain their bearings, manage the battle, and pass along information to the rest of the force. Previously, the only aircraft to get such a system were the F-15E Strike Eagle and the F-117A stealth fighter. There will also be the same kind of auto-stabilization system as on the Blackhawk, though with some major improvements.
• Electronics-The RAH-66 will introduce a new type of electronics packaging to Army systems. Instead of the “black boxes” that have characterized military electronics since the 1960s, all of the computers and electronics will be on sealed circuit “cards,” slotted into several electronics bays. Each type of card is identical, with its specific function determined by the software that controls it. Thus, if an RAH-66 needs a computer upgrade, all the crew chief will need to do is install an additional computer “card” into the electronics bay. As an added benefit, other weapons systems will (theoretically) be able to use the same types of cards, thus simplifying maintenance and logistics requirements. All of the electronics systems on the Comanche are linked by a 1553 data bus, allowing one system to “talk” to another.
• Weapons-Pound for pound, the Comanche will be the most heavily armed aircraft in history. The basic weapon is a three-barreled 20mm Gatling-type gun (with 500 rounds of ammunition) in a nose turret. Along each side of the fuselage is a weapons bay with retractable door-mounts for the internal weapons. These can include Hellfire missiles, 2.75” Hydra-70 rockets, and air-to-air Stinger missiles. In addition a pair of stub wings, similar to the ESSS mounts on the UH-60 Blackhawk, can be installed to carry additional weapons and/or external fuel tanks. A normal combat load for an RAH-66 might be the 20mm gun, five AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, and two air-to-air Stinger missiles.
• Flight Controls/Maneuverability—The Comanche will be the first U.S. helicopter to make full use of a digital fly-by-wire control system like that of the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Also, the FANTAIL® rotor system allows it to turn faster than any other aircraft in the world. So versatile is the new system, that the FANTAIL® flying prototype (a modified Sikorsky S-76) achieved lateral (sideways) speeds of over 80 knots/130 kph!
• Maintenance—The measures taken to make the RAH-66 reliable and maintainable can only be described as fanatical. A built-in fault-isolation system automatically tells the crew chiefs exactly what is wrong (or right) with all of the Comanche’s onboard systems. Maintenance has also been simplified, with an engine change taking only one hour. All field maintenance can be done with only six tools (carried in an onboard kit), while flight-line service requires only thirty-four.
• Deployability—With a pair of external fuel tanks, the Comanche will be capable of one-way hops of over 1,260 miles/2,286 kilometers. This means that it could self-deploy from the U.S. to anywhere in the world, albeit in a number of jumps. But more practical deployment options have also been built into the design, such as the ability to assemble or disassemble the main rotor (a five-bladed model, to keep noise down and efficiency up) and load or unload it aboard any one of a number of cargo planes in less than twenty-two minutes. The venerable C-130 Hercules, for instance, can carry one, while the C-5 Galaxy can c
arry up to eight, with the RAH-66s able to launch on mission shortly after arrival. In fact, the time required to service, refuel, and rearm a Comanche between missions is only fifteen minutes.
Putting all these pieces together will take some time, but when it hits the battlefields in the early 21st century, the Comanche will be the most dangerous rotorcraft in the world. Its stealth, armament and sensor package, and communications capabilities will probably make it the backbone of Army Aviation well into the middle of the 21st century. Keep an eye out for this new bird. I certainly will!
U.S. Army Personal/ Man-Portable Systems
One of the most coveted badges in the Army is a simple blue rectangle with an 18th-century Kentucky long rifle in silver. Called the Combat Infantry Badge, it tells you that you are looking at a soldier who has held a rifle in his hands, seen the face of battle, and fired at the enemy. A Navy can blockade an enemy, and an Air Force can demolish the enemy’s economic and political centers, but ultimately it takes soldiers with their personal weapons to dig the enemy’s soldiers out of their bunkers and trenches and send them packing. Individual soldiers and their personal equipment are the point of the spear for all the high technology that armed forces acquire and use.
A lot more is expected from the average soldier today than during the American Civil War, some 130 years ago. Back then, it was enough to be able to shoot another soldier with some accuracy at a range of perhaps 100 yards. Today’s soldier faces threats that those boys could never have imagined on the killing fields of Gettysburg or Shiloh. The soldier on a modern battlefield (perhaps thousands of miles from home) may be assaulted by tanks, bombed by aircraft, or showered with toxic chemicals. In addition, that soldier must be clothed, fed, and told where to go and how to get there. And when he does get there, the bad news is that he may be asked to destroy a tank or shoot down an airplane or helicopter all by himself. The good news is that the Army and American industry have given him some of the best tools in history to do the job.
The Colt M16A2 Assault Rifle
The Marines have a saying that goes, “This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine.” In that one statement is the embodiment of just what a personal weapon means to a soldier. It is their sword to slay their enemies—and ultimately, their reason for being. No other item of personal equipment is more essential to defining an individual as a soldier, not even the uniform.
The combat rifle used by modern soldiers is derived from two earlier weapons, the bolt-action rifle and the submachine gun. Both were used during World War II, though neither had all of the characteristics desired by infantry. Towards the end of the Second World War, the Germans developed the first assault rifle, the MP44. This was a fully automatic weapon, much like a submachine gun, but firing a more powerful, longer-ranged rifle-caliber bullet. In 1949, a Russian engineer named Mikhail Kalashnikov adapted the German design to produce the classic AK-47. The widespread adoption of automatic personal weapons, or assault rifles as they have become known, changed the nature of small-unit tactics. Instead of long-range marksmanship to wear down the enemy by gradual attrition, the goal became instant annihilation by concentrated and intense bursts of fire, with no need to aim so exactly. The vast increase in ammunition expenditure seemed cost-effective. Bullets are cheaper than soldiers.
The standard infantry weapon of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps today is the M16A2, a gas-operated 5.56mm automatic rifle that weighs almost nine pounds with a thirty-round magazine. If you look closely at a gas-operated rifle like the M16 or the AK-47, you notice a tube above the barrel that taps into the high-pressure hot gas that propels the bullet. When the rifle is fired, the gas is directed against a piston that works through a series of levers and springs to eject the empty cartridge case, cock the firing pin, load the next round, and close the breech. The design of the M16 is based on the Armalite AR-15, developed by Eugene Stoner in the 1950s. Stoner licensed the design to Colt Industries of Hartford, Connecticut, which initially produced it (as the CAR-15) for the U.S. Air Force Security Police in 1961. In 1966, the Department of Defense directed the U.S. Army to adopt it as a replacement for the 7.62mm M14 rifle. The M16 was four pounds lighter than the M14, and a soldier could carry three times as much ammunition. Though the 5.56mm bullet was smaller and lighter than the M 14’s 7.62, it had a much higher muzzle velocity, and it tended to tumble when it struck flesh. The theoretical range of the weapon is 550 meters, but most infantry combat takes place at much closer quarters, making elaborate scopes and sights a useless appendage (except for specialized precision sniper rifles, which require intensive marksmanship training to use effectively).
Made largely from stamped metal parts and plastic injection moldings, the M16 is relatively cheap to mass-produce. When it was first fielded in the 1960s, the troops nicknamed it “The Mattel Toy.” And early on in Vietnam, it gained a bad reputation for jamming and misfires, mostly because the Army had substituted an inferior propellant in the ammunition, which caused excessive fouling. Reportedly, in one small Marine unit overrun by the Viet Cong near Khe Sanh in 1967, every man was found dead with a cleaning rod in his hand, trying to clear a stuck cartridge. Additionally, in the jungles of Southeast Asia, mud tended to get into the precision mechanism, making it difficult to close the bolt. To rectify these problems, a modified version, the M16A1, added a manual bolt-closure device, chromium plating on the chamber, and a slightly reduced rate of fire.
Combat experience with fully automatic weapons has shown that troops often hold down the trigger (“target fixation”), continuing to fire long bursts (the troops call it “rock and roll”) after a target is hit or suppressed. At a rate of fire between 700 and 950 rounds per minute, a thirty-round magazine is emptied in less than three seconds. In 1982, the Army introduced the M 16A2 as a solution. A selector lever lets the soldier fire single shots or three-round bursts. To fire another three-round burst, you have to pull the trigger again. This burst limiter saves vast quantities of ammunition without reducing the lethality of the weapon. The M16A2 design introduced a selectable cartridge-case deflector, so that left-handed shooters would not be showered with hot brass. The M16A2 can additionally be fitted with an M203 40mm grenade launcher under the barrel for firing tear gas, smoke, or HE grenades. Usually, each infantry squad will have one M16 fitted with the M203.
The M 16 rifle can be fitted with an M203 grenade launcher, a single-shot, breech-loaded weapon that fires 40mm explosive projectiles. The grenade launcher has its own trigger and safety mechanism, and does not require any alteration of the M16. Typically, one soldier in each infantry squad is equipped with this “thump gun.”
OFFICIAL U.S. ARMY PHOTO
A more unusual variant of the M16 is the M231 Firing Port Weapon. This is a short-barreled, fully automatic M16 without a front sight or fore-grip. The muzzle is designed to fit the firing ports of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. In urban combat or in response to an ambush, spraying bullets from the sides of your Bradley might make tactical sense, but in practice, troopers leave the M231s stowed in the vehicle and carry standard M16s when they dismount.
Though the M16 is now entering its fourth decade of service and still going strong, there are plans for a new version, the M 16A3. Budget constraints, however, will probably keep the -A2 variant in service well into the 21st century. There are many other 5.56mm assault rifles made by Heckler & Koch (Germany), Fabrique Nationale (Belgium), and even the Kalashnikov AKM (Russian design and manufacture, with copies built in China and many other countries). Each has its own relative advantages and disadvantages over the M16. But many of the soldiers I have talked to consider the M16 to be about the best compromise in 5.56mm combat rifles. Not perfect, but the best compromise. And in the near future, it will probably stay that way.
The M9 Beretta Model 92F 9mm Pistol
No weapon arouses more debate, or has a deeper emotional significance for its users, than the handgun. Though it causes very few casualties in combat, no other weapon (except perhaps
the bayonet and the fist) is so up-close and personal. For most of this century, the standard handgun issued to members of the U.S. Armed forces was the Colt .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol. According to legend, this weapon was developed by the brilliant Utah inventor and gunsmith John Moses Browning (1855-1926); because the Army found that during the Philippine Insurrection (1900-1903), charging tribesmen struck by .30-caliber rifle fire would just keep on coming, oblivious to mortal wounds. The Army needed a weapon that would stop a berserk fanatic in his tracks. The .45 was heavy, mechanically complex, and had a massive recoil that made it hard to control, but no one ever complained about its lethality and stopping power. By the 1970s, however, the Army’s stock of .45s was wearing out, and most European armies were adopting 9mm as the standard caliber for personal weapons. The 9mm bullet is lighter than the 45, but has a higher muzzle velocity. So at typical point-blank ranges, it is actually more lethal than a .45-caliber round (purists will always give you a lively debate on this point). It also has the advantage of being much more compact than a .45, so that a semi-automatic pistol magazine can carry more rounds.
The M9 9mm Beretta model 92F automatic pistol, which replaces the classic 45 as the Army’s standard pistol.
BERETTA USA
After a long and controversial competition, the Army adopted the M9 Personal Defense Weapon, a 9mm semi-automatic pistol made by an American subsidiary of Italy’s legendary Beretta, a family-owned firm that has been in the gun business for almost five hundred years. The M9 weighs 2.6 pounds, has a fifteen-round magazine, and has a better safety mechanism than the weapons it replaces. It was designed to be equally effective for left-handed or right-handed shooters. Reliability is awesome. In testing, three M9s fired 30,000 rounds without a jam or failure. So far, the biggest single problem with the M9 has been that the demand has exceeded the supply system’s ability to fill the orders. The M9 is typically issued to soldiers who do not carry rifles, such as aviators and military police, though officers and special-operations forces are frequently assigned one for personal use as well. Generally, it is a nice piece to shoot, though the fans of the old .45-caliber will never give in to the folks they call “9mm Mafia.”