Vipers Scramble
by Alex Esguerra
Title
Vipers Scramble
Artist
Alex Esguerra
Medium
Photograph - Color
Description
The AH-1 Attack Helicopter, or simply Gunship, has a long and successful career in the military, so much that it has remained on the frontlines with the Marine Corps since it's introduction back in 1968. It's hardly a surprise - the Cobra and it's offshoot variants have the hallmarks of being nimble, survivable, and outright potent when facing off against foes.
45 years later, Bell's improvements took the Cobra thru the alphabet all the way to the letter Z. And the Zulu model is perhaps the most deadly of them all. Integrating all the latest technologies and some common sense concepts (why a two bladed rotor when four is better?), the current production airframe was so incredibly different in terms of performance that it earned an entirely different name. While die hard fans maintain the AH-1 heritage with the moniker "Zulu Cobra", the AH-1Z is officially known as "Viper".
This picture shows two Vipers of HMLAT-303 departing an airfield. While not entirely loaded to the gills, the lead gunship is splendidly deadly with a pair of LAU-61D/A rocket pods. The trailing one lacks such armament, but is not exactly timdly looking with the integral M197 20mm cannon under its chin. It was easy for me to imagine this duo heading out on the mission to create some battlefield havoc, even though it certainly wasn't the case.
Uploaded
September 28th, 2013
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