Military Heat

The Kamov Ka-50/52 is the world’s first coaxial attack helicopter. The Ka-50 Black Shark and Ka-52 Alligator have entered service with the Russian Army in 1995. Developed in the mid 1980s, the Kamov Ka-50 Black Shark is also the world’s only single seat attack helicopter and the first production helicopter to be fitted with a zero-zero ejection seat.

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The Denel AH-2 Rooivalk is a modern attack helicopter manufactured in South Africa by Denel Aerospace Systems, a division of Denel Ltd. 12 of these helicopters were ordered by the South African Air Force. The first helicopter entered service with the South African Air Force in 1999 and by April 2005 only six Rooivalk were operational as part of the 16 Squadron, which is based at AFB Bloemspruit near Bloemfontein.

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The Tiger/Tigre is a new attack helicopter manufactured by the Eurocopter Group, the global manufacturing and support company formed in 1992 from the merger of Aerospatiale of France and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG or DASA of Germany. The advanced multi-role battlefield helicopter is known as Tiger in Germany and Tigre in France and Spain but it is also designated EC 665 or PAH-2.
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The Mil Mi-28A/N attack helicopter is the Russian equivalent of the American Apache helicopter. Developed as a successor of the famous Mi-24 Hind, the Mi-28, known to NATO as Havoc, is a tandem two-seat helicopter optimized for the anti-tank role. This is Russia’s latest gunship.

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While out on border patrol, an OH-58D Kiowa Warrior surveillance helicopter came across a couple having sex in a convertible. This funny situation was recorded using the IR camera on board the helicopter. You can hear pilots talk about it over the radio. “We have activity here but I don’t think we really need to report it…. appears to be fornication in a convertible”… Seems the pilots have a lot of fun. Hilarious!!! (Read more…)

In the late 1960’s a secret program was undertaken by the US Air Force and Navy to evaluate flight characteristics of soviet built aircraft. The US acquired aircraft, radar systems, missiles as well as other hardware from friendly nations (Israel,Egypt,etc.) or aircraft used by their pilots to defect. The program continued until the early 1990’s, when the fall of the Soviet Union led to the end of the Cold War. (Read more…)

The RAH-66 Comanche was an advanced stealth attack/reconnaissance helicopter developed by Boeing and Sikorsky for the US Army.Designed to replace the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior and AH-1 Cobra, the Comanche was the first helicopter to incorporate the stealth technology.Compared to the AH-64 Apache helicopter the Comanche is four times less easy to observe and almost six times quieter.

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The Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm BO 105 is the world’s first light twin engined helicopter.The BO 105 has won a well-deserved reputation for performance and reliability since it first flew over 40 years ago.Nicknamed the Flying Tiger this little helicopter is a delight to fly, offering great agility and superb flying characteristics thanks to its rigid rotor.Unlike most helicopters, the BO 105 is fully aerobatic offering great performance and maneouvrability.

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Here are two videos I posted on metacafe, featuring the mighty Russian Mil Mi-24 Hind helicopter. The first video is a Czech Mi-24, and the second is a Slovakian Mil. Both videos showcase the helicopter’s maneuvering skills, and performances. They are both very cool videos if you are a military fanatic like I am Enjoy!
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The Russian Mil Mi-24 Hind helicopter is a true veteran. It’s seen 18 wars in its lifetime. That’s more than any other NATO helicopter in existence.
The Mi-24 Hind or the flying tank as it is called by Russian pilots because of it’s
reinforced cockpit, can take hits from all kinds of projectile weapons, including massive .50 caliber machine guns, without the bullets making it into the cockpit. Unfortunately any aircraft is as strong as its weakest part. For the Mi-24 Hind the weakest link is its resistance to shoulder launched rockets.
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The Apache AH-64 helicopter is the current workhorse of the US Military. The need for an attack helicopter started after the war in Vietnam when a lot of Huey helicopters were fitted with attack rockets. Although the Huey did its job properly as an armed transport helicopter, as an attach chopper it left a bitter taste, over 5000 people dying in it!

Thus the Apache was created. The first one flew in 1975, and after proving its worth, in 1983 the assembly line started rolling aircraft after aircraft at a price of 18 million US dollars.
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An unusual article caught my attention on Digg yesterday. It featured a website with pictures of old abandoned Russian aircraft. The pictures seem to tell a story of a long-gone era when everybody feared nuclear attacks and when the Berlin wall divided Europe into two areas of influence.

These airplanes were once top of the line, and a part of the proud air fleet of the Soviet Union, yet their lives are now over, their “guts” have been removed and their destiny is now only to sit in the sun, and watch history unfold itself.
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