Sharon Advocate September 24, 2004
The Kiowa helicopter
By Paul L. Kerstein/ Correspondent
The OH-58A Kiowa helicopter was first deployed to Vietnam in early Autumn of 1969. The Kiowa operated with air cavalry, attack helicopter, and field artillery units. The OH-58A could also be configured as a troop transport, MedEvac, or for external lift missions using an external hook. Kiowas were commonly paired with the AH-1G Huey Cobra. The Kiowa would fly low to draw enemy fire, "trolling for fire, mark the target, and call in the Cobra to attack.
After countless modifications over the years, pilots in Iraq were equipped with the latest model of the Kiowa helicopter, the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, currently replacing the A and C Kiowas. It is a two-seat, single-engine, four-bladed single main rotor light helicopter with a low light television, thermal imaging system, and laser range finder/designator incorporated into an above the rotor Mast Mounted Sight (MMS). It is designed to operate autonomously at standoff ranges providing armed reconnaissance, command and control, and target acquisition and designation under day/night, hot, and adverse weather conditions.
The Kiowa Warrior can designate targets for precision-guided munitions carried by Apache helicopters, other airborne vehicles, or ground based systems. Using the Airborne Target Handover System, the Kiowa Warrior is capable of rapidly providing adjustment of conventional artillery or handing targets to other airborne weapons platforms equipped with digital receiving equipment. The Kiowa Warrior can also be armed with Air-to-Air Stinger missiles and Air-to-Ground Hellfire missiles, 2.75 inch rockets, or a .50 caliber machine gun.
The first Kiowa OH-58D Warrior was first delivered to the Army in May 1991. The OH-58D Kiowa Warrior is fielded in air cavalry armed reconnaissance units and attack battalions of selected Army units. The Kiowa Warrior provides the Army with a versatile, lethal, deployable aircraft capable of seeing, fighting, and surviving in all types of terrain, adverse visibility, and battlefield environments, day or night. The OH-58D is arguably one of the most demanding cockpit workload intensive aircraft in the Army's inventory.
Information provided from the Web sites: www.fas.org and www.globalsecurity.org.
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