Britain's Military Helicopters

Britain's Military Helicopters PDF

Author: Chris Gibson

Publisher: Key Publishing

Published: 2022-07-31

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 180282121X

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A key component in any armed force, helicopters operate in a range of roles not only previously filled by aircraft but also many that are completely new. Thanks to their ability to go anywhere and operate from locations as diverse as landing pads hacked out of the rainforest or the pitching deck of a frigate, the helicopter adds a flexibility unknown to armed forces in the past. Be it antisubmarine operations by a Merlin, fire support from an Apache, stores delivered by a Puma, evacuation of the wounded by a casevac Chinook or rescue by a Sea King, helicopters offer the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force capabilities unheard of in the history of conflict. From its beginnings as a curiosity with little operational use, Britain’s armed forces soon embraced the helicopter with the Whirlwind for the Royal Navy and RAF and the Skeeter for the Army Air Corps. Finding these helicopters limited, it was the advent of the turboshaft that revolutionized the helicopter, with the Belvedere, Wessex, Wasp and Scout bringing new capabilities. The next generation, the Puma, Lynx, Sea King and Chinook, all designed for turboshaft power, made the helicopter an essential machine for all the armed forces and have proven their worth to Britain’s forces since the 1970s. In Britain’s Military Helicopters, Chris Gibson describes the evolution of the helicopter in British service, from their beginnings with the Sikorsky R-4B test flown by Fleet Air Arm pilots in the USA to the latest Wildcat and Apache Guardian. Lavishly illustrated throughout, this book includes original photographs and images from archives, many of which are previously unpublished.

British Army Aviation in Action

British Army Aviation in Action PDF

Author: Tim Ripley

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2012-07-19

Total Pages: 261

ISBN-13: 178346139X

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The British Army is the UK's second largest operator of military aircraft, fielding more than 300 armed helicopters, fixed wing surveillance aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles. Its aviation units have been in the forefront of UK combat air operations in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan between 1999 and 2010. HRH Prince Harry was recently awarded his 'wings' to allow him to begin training as an Apache attack helicopter pilot, further raising the profile of British Army aviation. This book will look at the current units and equipment used by British Army aviation elements of the Army Air Corps (which operates helicopters and fixed wing aircraft) and Royal Artillery (which operates unmanned aerial vehicles or drones). It will provide a detailed account of British Army aviation operations, drawing on first hand accounts of army personnel and commanders, official records and the author's observations from war zones.

Westland and the British Helicopter Industry, 1945-1960

Westland and the British Helicopter Industry, 1945-1960 PDF

Author: Matthew Uttley

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 9780714651941

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This study explains how Westland dominated British helicopter production and why government funding and support failed to generate competitive "all-British" alternatives. In doing so, the book evaluates broader historiographic assumptions about the purported "failure" of british aircraft procurement during the early post-war period and considers the scope and limitations of licensed production as a government-mandated procurement strategy.

British Military Jets

British Military Jets PDF

Author: Kev Darling

Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited

Published: 2017-07-15

Total Pages: 122

ISBN-13: 1445669331

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While the world lived with the threat of nuclear war, the RAF deployed new and ever more capable jet aircraft to counter the communist threat. This book is their story.

Air War Northern Ireland

Air War Northern Ireland PDF

Author: Steven Taylor

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2018-06-30

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 1526721554

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The story of the little-known battles between British helicopters and Provisional IRA units equipped with heavy machine guns, RPGs, and SAMs—includes photos. Famously dubbed “Bandit Country” by a UK government minister in 1975, South Armagh was considered the most dangerous part of Northern Ireland for the British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary during the years of violence known as the Troubles that engulfed the province in the last three decades of the twentieth century. This was also true for the helicopter crews of the RAF, Royal Navy, and Army Air Corps who served there. Throughout the Troubles, the Provisional IRA’s feared South Armagh brigade waged a relentless campaign against military aircraft operating in the region, where the threat posed by roadside bombs made the security forces highly dependent on helicopters to conduct day-to-day operations. From pot-shot attacks with Second World War-era rifles in the early days of the conflict to large-scale, highly coordinated ambushes by PIRA active service units equipped with heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and even shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), the threat to British air operations by the late 1980s led to the arming of helicopters operating in the border regions of Northern Ireland. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including official records and the accounts of aircrew, this book tells the little-known story of the battle for control of the skies over Northern Ireland’s “Bandit Country.”

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