Page 19 - Combat Aircraft (January 2020)

The MH-47 routinely only has 18 seats The back-end crew of the MH-47 consists reconnaissance (ISR) platforms, and other
available. Why so few? Because the craft of four personnel — the ight engineer, players, all working together in concert
is built speci cally for special operations, who is the senior crewman, and three towards meeting the objective.
there is a bunch of non-standard crew chiefs. When not attending to tasks Unfortunately, it doesn’t always go as
equipment aboard. So, if you are one of involved with ying the aircraft, the four planned. While ‘Neptune Spear’ and ‘Kayla
the guys without a seat, it is a miserable of them have a secondary responsibility of Mueller’ were tremendous victories for
ride. Your butt and legs will fall asleep being gunners. Joint Special Operations Command, other
and it will be a constant battle to keep There are two miniguns in the front, one missions have resulted in less favorable
circulation to your lower extremities. Not in the cabin door, the other opposite in the outcomes. Aircraft have been downed
only that, but any part of you touching other window. The guns are much larger (Operation ‘Gothic Serpent’), aircrew
anything metal will be numbed from the and more complex than the armament have been lost, and members of the
vibration of the engines, the transmissions, normally carried on helicopters, and their special mission units (SMUs) have been
and the rotors beating the air. ammo boxes and batteries take up a killed in missions like these over the past
Here’s another thing, just to add to the good amount of the oor just behind the two decades.
fun factor: it’s freezing. The rear ramp door/window. They have a large battery As technology improves and lethality
is never fully closed during combat because they are DC-powered, allowing increases on both sides, the required
operations, and the other doors and crew them to be used without aircraft power level of co-ordination, precision, and
windows are open to accommodate the in the case of a shoot-down — a painful allocation of appropriate assets also rises.
aircraft’s guns. There’s no escaping the lesson learned from Roberts Ridge during The purpose of air assets elded by the
breeze, and the air ow goes from back to Operation ‘Anaconda’ in Afghanistan. Left: ‘Green USAF, US Army and US Navy is pretty
front as well. The interior of the helicopter Additionally, the MH-47G model has Berets’ assigned simple: support the boots on the ground.
to the 3rd
would be blacked out to conserve the two rectangular windows (left and right) Special Forces Maximize your performance and that of
crew’s night vision, but you could be just below the engines and forward of Group (Airborne) your aircraft to keep the threat picture
certain that you’d see other operators the ramp. Each of these has an M-240 conduct fast clean, thereby enabling the SMUs to get in
rope insertion/
shivering in the cold. mounted in it. extraction system and conduct their nasty business.
You would wiggle your ngers and toes training. US Army/ While there is much fanfare about the
almost subconsciously, starting to feel End game Spc Peter Seidler who and the how in the most recent
the cold knock you out of your reverie. We’ve all seen the news, and we know Below: US special operation, the focus should remain on
Your nostrils are assaulted by the smells: how this type of operation generally ends. forces are the why. Simply stated: there is evil in
a mixture of hot metal, engine exhaust, It’s a well-planned, well-co-ordinated required to work the world, and that evil must be met
with a host of
JP8 fuel, hot oil, and the occasional whi e ort between the Special Operations aviation assets in and driven back at the point of a sword
of the terrain below, since you’d be raging Aviation Regiment (SOAR), xed-wing order to execute employed by brave men willing to wield it
across the ground at really low altitude and rotary close air support (CAS) their missions. in times such as these.
US Army/SSgt
trying to avoid detection. assets, intelligence, surveillance and Iman Broady-Chin Sine Pari…

On Operation
‘Neptune

Spear’ — the mission

to go after Osama bin

Laden — the infi ltration
route had the assault

force fl ying nap-of-

the-earth through

some of the highest
mountains on the

planet, through

heavily defended

airspace in three
different countries

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