Westland Wessex

[redcoat2]

I think the Westland Wessex helicopter (obat07/ Units 529 and 537) can only carry 12 men in the game. It could carry 16. i.e. two infantry squads.

There are also two or three armed versions of the Wessex that could be added to the game. The basic armed transport version – with two GPMGs – was first used in combat operations during the British/Malaysian confrontation with Indonesia in Borneo. I will post some further details when I get some accurate availability dates.

[JohnHale]

You're right there, redcoat - we only seem to have the transport versions available in the game.

Armament options for the Royal Navy's "second-generation" HU5 designed to support the Royal Marines (service dates Dec. 63 - 1987) should include either 2 or 4 SS11/AS12 wire-guided missiles, or a pair of 2in rocket pods plus cabin-mounted GPMG. I don't think the RAF's similar HC2 was ever armed, though: it was intended for a totally different environment.

[redcoat2]

It does seem to be the Royal Navy/Royal Marines who used armed Wessex helicopters rather than the RAF.

Armed Wessex transports

There were two configurations for armed Wessex transports. Some were armed with a single GPMG mounted on a swivel fitted to fire from the starboard side entrance door or window. Others carried two pintle-type mounted GPMGs - one behind the rear window on each side.

A ‘Junglie’ picking up a Special Forces patrol during the confrontation with Indonesia. It is armed with two GPMGs. One can be seen in the starboard rear window:



A later photo taken during the Aden insurgency:

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/operatio...imageIndex/15/

AFAIK armed transports were available from the beginning. They seem to have become more common as time went on though - probably because they were often armed or up-gunned before deployment to hotspots (such as Aden, Borneo, Oman and the Falklands).

Attack helicopters

The Royal Navy/Royal Marines armed some of their Commando Wessex Mk 1s and all of there Wessex HU.5s with a wide variety of weapons. They could be used to attack either naval or land targets. These seem to be two of the main loadouts for land operations:

1) Commando support

2x 2.75 inch rocket pods
2x SS-1 ATGMs
2x 7.62 mm fixed forward firing guns
1x rear mounted GPMG (sometimes x2)

A photo:



2) Anti-tank

4x SS-1 ATGMs
2x 7.62 mm fixed forward firing guns
1x rear mounted GPMG (sometimes x2)

Their armament is similar to that of other British helicopters at the time: the Westland Scout, Wasp and Whirlwind.

The first Wessex squadron to be equipped with attack helicopters was commissioned in April 1962 and at sea on the Commando Carrier HMS Albion in September. The last time that a Wessex attack helicopter saw combat was during the Falklands War – as illustrated by this painting (The attack by Lieutenant P C Manley and POA J A Balls in their Wessex on Port Stanley on 11 June 1982):

http://www.yellowairplane.com/Advent...Wessex-SSS.jpg

Source: Warpaint No. 65: Westland Wessex