AH-1G Cobra
Bell Helicopter won the competition for an interim fast armed escort helicopter in March 1966, against the Sikorsky S-61 and the Kaman HH-2C Tomahawk. DOD contracted with Bell Helicopter, Inc. (BHI) for 1,100 AH-1G aircraft, which logged more than 1 million flight hours in Vietnam.
The original AH-1G prototype (Bell N209J) had fully retractable skids. Below is an interesting photo of N209J with a chin-mounted M197 20mm cannon, a TSU, and the TOW missile system. This is possibly a prototype of the armament subsystems that were being developed for the U.S. Marine Corps AH-1J or AH-1T configurations.
Based on his belief that Seneff accurately represented the needs of the soldiers on the ground and had a strong sense of loyalty and integrity, General Johnson also almost immediately sent Colonel Seneff to Vietnam as the first commander of the 1st Aviation Brigade. Immediately upon arriving in Vietnam, Seneff called in all aviation commanders and told them that the Army needed standardization for aviation, and that it would start right there, in Vietnam.
The AH-1G Cobra [or Snake] was first deployed to Vietnam in September 1967. The Cobra's primary mission was to give fire support to troop carrying Hueys. Its trial-by-fire introduction to service as the AH-1G in Vietnam immediately provided ground commanders with air superiority without the wait of calling in the Air Force. The narrow 38 inch wide airframe presented a much more difficult target than it's derivative, the 100 inch wide UH-1 "Huey". During the Vietnam War, the AH-1G Cobra was used extensively in a variety of missions ranging from armed escort and reconnaissance to fire suppression and aerial rocket artillery. The Cobra, or "Snake", was often used effectively when paired with an unarmed OH-6A Cayuse "Loach" or OH-58A Kiowa light observation helicopter or a UH-1H "Nighthawk".
During the early 1970s, the Army conducted a series of tests in Ansbach, Germany. The tests were to determine the suitability of air cavalry elements and the AH-1G Cobra, in particular, to operate in an antitank role in the European environment. These tests demonstrated that antiarmor helicopter teams, properly employed and trained, could achieve high ratios of armored vehicles destroyed for every missile-firing helicopter lost. Armed scout and attack helicopters--especially when operating in nap-of-the-earth and nighttime environments--clearly were shown to have the required survivability and to be viable and essential elements of conventional mid- to high-intensity warfare. Thus the way was paved for the development of the modern attack and scout helicopters and the doctrinal principles that would take Army aviation into the next century.
The AH-1G Cobra, or Snake, was armed with 2.75 inch (70mm) Folding Fin Aerial Rockets (FFARs) in M158 seven-tube or M200 19-tube rocket launchers, used so effectively at An Loc in 1972. The Cobra had a chin-turret on the M28/M28A1 armament subsystem. The chin-turret mounted the M134 7.62mm minigun and the M129 40mm grenade launcher. The AH-1G could also be armed with the M134 minigun in fixed side-mounting M18/M18A1 gun pod, and the port (left) side mounting M195 20mm automatic gun on the M35 armament subsystem. The AH-1G could also mount the XM118 smoke grenade dispenser.
Some early model AH-1G/AH-1Q Cobras mounted either two M134 miniguns or two M129 grenade launchers in a M28A1 chin-turret (TAT-141). Because of problems with the ammunition feed systems, the twin-gun configuration was discontinued. The Cobra was first employed to Vietnam with the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in August 1967. The Cobra's primary mission was to give fire support to troop carrying Hueys. The AH-1G/AH-1Q Cobras were powered by a single Lycoming T53-L-13 1400 shp turbine engine, and had a speed of 196 mph (170 knots), almost twice the speed of the UH-1 Huey. Both the AH-1G and AH-1Q Cobra used the M73 reflex sight. The Cobra performed it's job so well it was possible for the first time for Slicks and gun ships to operated as true air calvary.
The AH-1G was equipped with the CONFICS (Cobra Night Fire Control System) and the SMASH (Southeast Asia Multi-Sensor Armament Subsystem for Huey Cobra) systems to provide the Cobra with the capability of detecting, identifying, and targeting ground targets during day or night operations.
