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| Boeing-Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche |
The Comanche RAH-66 is the US Army's new Reconnaissance and
Attack Helicopter being developed by Boeing Sikorsky. The first
flight of the Comanche took place on January 4, 1996.
The airframe is crashworthy and tolerant to 23 mm gunfire. The
radar cross section has been minimized, primarily by the
precisely shaped fuselage and internal weapons configuration.
The helicopter has a composite five-bladed main rotor and a
fantail anti-torque system. Two
identical cockpits house pilot and co-pilot, which are sealed
and have a positive pressure air system for protection against
chemical and biological warfare. The cockpit is fitted with a
pilot’s night vision system from Lockheed Martin and the
pilots have a wide field of view Kaiser/Hamilton Standard helmet
mounted display for head-up flying. The targets are designated
and the weapons fired from collective and sidestick control push
buttons. Each integrated cockpit has flat screen liquid crystal
displays, a color display for a digital moving map system,
tactical situation and night operation display.
The Comanche carries its weapons
internally and has a weapons bay on each side of the fuselage.
The missiles are mounted on the weapon bay doors which open
sideways. The internal weapon bay can be fitted with Stinger,
Starstreak or Mistral air-to-air missiles; TOW II, Hot II or
Longbow Hellfire air-to-ground missiles; Sura D 81 mm, Snora 81
mm, Hydra 70 rockets; or the Army Counter Air Weapon System. The
number of missiles on each door mounting varies, for example
each door will hold three Hellfire or six Stinger missiles. The
helicopter can be reconfigured with optional stub wings fitted
with multiple weapon pylons which carry an additional four
Hellfire or eight Stinger missiles.
The Comanche is equipped with a
stowable three-barrel 20 mm Gatling gun from General Electric.
The gun, with up to 500 rounds of ammunition, is mounted on a
Giat turret under the nose of the helicopter. The gun is capable
of firing 750 or 1,500 rounds per minute.
Full-rate
production is scheduled to start in the year 2006 but the US
Department of Defense has approved an operational capability
program which requires six additional Comanche helicopters to be
manufactured in the year 2001 for operational testing by the US
Army. The US Army requirement is for 1213 Comanche helicopters
to enter service from 2006. |
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RAH-66 Comanche
Standard Series. 1/48th scale. 9/75" rotor spread x
11.5" long.
No. AHB4D-ST. Only $159.95 |
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