Suhiir's Revised USMC OOB #13

[thatguy96]

Originally Posted by Suhiir

UH-1H
They initially got the UH-1B/C/E model, but since less then 200 of that model were built they also used a lot of the more numerous UH-1H (long fuselage, upgraded engine) versions as well (over 5000 built). Also after the introduction of the UH-1M the USMC upgraded all their UH-1E to the new engine, making them basically UH-1Hs. Rather then include three different models of the UH-1E I went for simplicity and called them UH-1Hs, which is essentially what they were.

This is interesting, since I wasn't aware that the USMC retained any of its UH-1Es in anything but a training capacity (TH-1Es) after the introduction of the UH-1N in 1971. The upgrading of the engines isn't mentioned in the official USMC helicopter history from 1962-1973 (which was published in 1978). The differences between long and short fuselage UH-1s I would think would be different enough to warrant using a term like "UH-1E+" or something. I dunno. Its good to know the reasoning though and it does make sense.

Originally Posted by Suhiir

GAU-19 50cal gattling
In an on-again/off-again discussion they've been talking of mounting a chin turret with the GAU-19 on the MV-22 Osprey. So they have some GAU-19s (they got about 100 of them in 2007).
Since they haven't gotten around to putting the chin turrets on the MV-22s they're occasionally used as a replacement for the M134 7.62mm minigun on UH-1's. So I stuck them on my "Light Attack Helicopter (Unit Class 221) variant which I've set up to be mainly "soft vehicle"/"crewed weapon" killer helo (the 50cal vs the 7.62mm, less HE and more AP rockets).

Okay, this more or less fits what I've heard. The GAU-19/A has been tested on just about every helicopter in US military inventory in the last 20 years, but there seems to be no rush to put it into active service.

Originally Posted by Suhiir

HTL Gunship (Unit 629)
(A.K.A. YR-13 / H-13 / OH-13 Sioux)
This was a field mod commonly made to observation helos during Korea. Some pilots also carried hand grenades to drop as "bombs". This was never an "official" modification but was very, very common.
The US Army formalized this with the "XM1 armament subsystem" http://tri.army.mil/LC/CS/csa/xm1m37c.gif

I've not read anything about this. Do you have a source? I'd be interested to incorporate it into some projects I'm working on.

Originally Posted by Suhiir

HRS Gunship (Unit 630)
(A.K.A. Sikorsky S-55 "Chickasaw" / H-19 / HO4S)
These were another common field modification (they were the predecessor to the H-34 Stingers).
You mentioned the tests in 1951, yes, officially the tests were discontinued.

Again, do you have any sources on it actually being used in combat or available for such use? The official USMC helicopter history says that the conclusions drawn from the tests by HMX-1 were decidedly negative. I can see tests continuing on an ad-hoc basis, but the USMC seems to have been pretty set on the usage of fixed wing aircraft for CAS and helicopter escort right into the mid-1960s. They even pursued the YAT-28E as an alternative to an armed UH-1E.

Originally Posted by Suhiir

Weapon #174 M23 Machinegun
Yup, exactly right ! I didn't want to use the standard MMGs for helo doorguns because of their range.

Makes sense. The stock stats for the M60s used on helicopters should be different in the basic OOB. Like my comment on the first point, I would have personally left them named as M60s, but does make a lot of sense.