02 Armored Cav by Tom Clancy

Author:Tom Clancy [Clancy, Tom]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

A cutaway of the Bell Helicopter-Textron OH-58D Kiowa Warrior scout/attack helicopter.

JACK RYAN ENTERPRISES LTD., BY LAURA ALPHER

Unfortunately, because it had to carry out other urgent commitments, the Army recalled its tiny fleet of AH-6s (and their special-ops crews). At the same time, the Army realized that an aircraft was needed to replace the AH-6s in the Persian Gulf, one that could be operated by regular Army Aviation troops.

In a little while they concluded that an OH-58D, modified to fire air-to-surface weapons, would do very nicely. In September of 1987, under a “black” program (the very existence of the program was secret) code-named PRIME CHANCE, the Joint Chiefs of Staff directed Bell Helicopter-Textron to convert fifteen OH-58Ds to an armed configuration. Completing prototyping, testing, and fabrication, the contractor delivered the first two aircraft to the Army less than one hundred days after go-ahead. Within seven months, fifteen PRIME CHANCE aircraft were delivered to the 1st Battalion of the 18th Aviation Brigade (assigned to XVIII Airborne Corps). The modifications to the basic OH-58D included:• The installation of weapons pylons capable of taking AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, air-to-air Stingers, 2.75” Hydra-70 rockets, and a .50-caliber machine-gun pod.

• Uprating of the maximum continuous power of the engines and transmission from 455 to 510 shp, as well as use of a different lube oil to handle the high temperatures of the Persian Gulf.

• Installation of a mission equipment package consisting of an ARN-118 TACAN navigational receiver, a video recorder for use with the MMS, and some new avionics (an MIL STD 1553 data bus was already standard on the aircraft).

• An electronic-countermeasure suite consisting of an AN/APR- 39/44 RWR, and AN/ALQ-144 IR jammer.

• Ladders for overwater crew rescue.

• Shielding for the expected electromagnetic interference from the radars of the Navy ships that TF-118 would operate from.

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