EC-665 Tiger UHT
| This page is about the German attack helicopter EC-665 Tiger UHT. For other versions, see Tiger Eurocopter (Family). |
Contents
Description
The EC-665 Tiger UHT was introduced into German service in 2005 as a multi-role fire support helicopter. It is a variant of the Eurocopter Tiger, which was developed by a joint venture of France and Germany in response to a requirement for an advanced anti-tank helicopter. The development of the Tiger started in 1984 and lasted until 2003, when the first production model flew. The Tiger UHT is equipped with a mast-mounted sight, which allows it to operate from behind cover and engage targets with precision-guided missiles. The Tiger UHT has also participated in several overseas deployments, such as Afghanistan and Mali, where it provided reconnaissance and fire support for ground forces. The Tiger UHT is one of the four versions of the Eurocopter Tiger, along with the HAP, HAD and ARH models used by France, Spain, and Australia, respectively. The UHT stands for Unterstützungshubschrauber Tiger, which means "support helicopter Tiger" in German. The UHT differs from the other variants by having a different armament configuration, which includes PARS 3 LR fire-and-forget missiles and HOT 3 anti-tank missiles. In 2018, an upgrade program was contemplated that would enhance its performance and survivability, as well as enable it to fire the new Spike ER2 anti-tank missile; however, no final decision has been made regarding the implementation of the upgrade program.
The EC-665 Tiger UHT was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision". It has a unique advantage over most other helicopters in its ability to engage targets from behind cover using its mast-mounted sight and fire-and-forget missiles. The mast-mounted sight allows the pilot to scan the battlefield without exposing the helicopter too much, while the fire-and-forget missiles can be launched without maintaining a lock on the target. Unfortunately, the fire-and-forget missiles are not very reliable, as they frequently lose their lock due to obstacles and smoke. They are also slow and have a fairly limited range, which means that the target could be destroyed by other players or move out of range before the missile hits. Therefore, the pilot should always be aware of the situation and choose the best moment to fire and withdraw.
General info
Flight performance
As a Eurocopter, it has the best agility and flight performance compared to other helicopters as the rest of the EC-665 seen in game. It is able to do barrel rolls metres from the ground. Despite not having the best top speed (Russian helicopters excel at that part) it is able to perform "unique" tricks mid-air for helicopters. It is not the best strike helicopter when you want to do lighting strikes (fast attacks with minimal exposure time) but it is able to "peek-a-boo" with enemies, specially since the collective pitch on the EC-665 can be increased and decreased very quickly. One of the pros, at least for flight performance, of the UHT compared to other EC-665s is the lack of the 30 mm autocannon. This reduces the weight of the helicopter, increasing speed, manoeuvrability and agility overall.
| Characteristics | Max Speed (km/h at 1,000 m) |
Max altitude (metres) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AB | RB | ||
| Stock | 268 | 256 | 4000 |
| Upgraded | 309 | 290 | |
Survivability and armour
As with most helicopters in the game, the Tiger UHT can be shot down easily by even 7.62 mm machine gun fire. However, the EC-665 crew is inside what looks like an "armoured bathtub". The crew is protected by AMAP-AIR (Advanced Modular Armour Plating Air) which is able to protect the crew from fragmentation only. It is not able to withstand machine gun fire without being damaged badly. However, the EC-665's best armour is to not be seen at all. This is something the Tiger excels at. Thanks to the GPS (Gunner Primary Sight) displacement, if the real life combat usage is followed (staying behind trees and mountains and poke just the rotor), the survivability of the EC-665 can be tremendously improved, thanks to this, it is not detected by anti-aircraft at all and will be hard to spot unless thermals are being used.
The fuel and transmission sit in the middle of the aircraft, between the gunner and the engine. There is no armour protection for the transmission and fuel, and their placement in the middle of the helicopter make them vulnerable to enemy fire.
Modifications and economy
| Flight performance | Survivability | Weaponry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Armaments
| Ballistic Computer | ||
|---|---|---|
| CCIP (Guns) | CCIP (Rockets) | CCIP (Bombs) |
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Offensive armament
The EC-665 Tiger UHT is armed with:
- 32 x countermeasures
- 16 x large calibre countermeasures
Suspended armament
The EC-665 Tiger UHT can be outfitted with the following ordnance:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.7 mm FN M3P machine guns (250 rpg) | 1* | 1* | |||
| 12.7 mm FN M3P machine guns (400 rpg) | 1 | 1 | |||
| FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets | 3*, 19 | 3*, 19 | |||
| APKWS II (M151) missiles | 7 | 7 | |||
| APKWS II (M282) missiles | 7 | 7 | |||
| ATAS (AIM-92) missiles | 2 | 2 | |||
| HOT-3 missiles | 2, 4 | 2, 4 | |||
| PARS 3 LR missiles | 4 | 4 | |||
| * 250 rpg gunpods and triple FFAR rockets are carried concurrently on the same hardpoint | |||||
| Default weapon presets | |
|---|---|
| |
Usage in battles
- Overview
The EC-665 Tiger UHT is a great tank hunting helicopter, enabled through the help of its superb avionics, electronics, optronics and one-of-a-kind PARS 3 LR anti-tank guided missiles. Although the playstyle is similar to its predecessors, the Tiger UHT is quite unlike other helicopters previously found in its tech tree. With the addition of all-new MAW, thermal optics, air-to-air missiles and unique heat-seeking anti-tank guided missiles, the EC-665 Tiger UHT presents the leading edge of anti-tank helicopters. With support from friendly fighters occupying hostile aircraft and helicopters, the Tiger UHT can singlehandedly wipe out entire teams on the ground, even the latest anti-air vehicles have great difficulty taking out a Tiger UHT when piloted accordingly.
- Air-to-air combat
Although possible, the Tiger UHT should avoid actively hunting other helicopters and especially aircraft(unless unavoidable), as it is far more important to prioritize hunting ground targets instead. If required, the Tiger UHT is equipped with 4 Stinger heat-seeking missiles that work best against slow-flying targets within 750m-5km with 2km being the optimal launch distance. With an all aspect locking seeker, the missile can engage aircraft directly coming towards it, however, this is limited to a maximum distance of roughly 4km.
- Short-range anti tank combat
Just like air combat, close-range anti-tank combat is not a very viable option, the 38 Mighty Mouse rockets or 12.7 mm gun pods don't present a great tool to destroy anything that isn't soft targets. If rockets are used, the ballistics computer will assist with landing precise hits.
- Long-range anti-tank combat
For the Tiger UHT, there are 2 choices of anti-tank guided missiles: HOT-3 and PARS 3 LR. Although HOT-3 has the highest penetration of any armament in-game, it does not perform well due to its very lacking 4.3 km range. PARS 3 LR however is the highlight of the Tiger UHT, with its unique ability to home-in on the target on its own after launch, allowing the pilot to seek cover immediately after firing the missile. The only disadvantage to the missile is the requirement to lock the target beforehand, which isn't too important due to the short 1-second warm-up timer. This also allows all 8 missiles to be fired within 10 seconds at either the same or 8 different targets at once.
- Engaging ground targets with PARS 3 LR
When picking out targets to engage, there are a few criteria to be checked to ensure a good hit. Targets that are moving towards cover such as buildings, terrain, or smoke, or sitting behind bushes (not bushes as 3D decorations). The task of finding targets is greatly improved through the optics being mounted above the main rotor overseeing the entire helicopter and being equipped with thermal/night vision systems. This allows for great viewing angles of over -60° to 60° in the horizontal plane, and -40° to 10° in elevation.
An important feature about PARS 3 LR is the infrared seeker, being able to engage aircraft and especially helicopters too. Although not reliable due to the lack of a proximity fuse, this can be a live saver when fighting at ranges that exceed the range of Stinger.
- Altitude is key - Fighting against and around anti-air
In almost all cases, the Tiger UHT will face anti-air vehicles, especially missile-based systems. For these kinds of threats, there are multiple layers of protection against these types of threats. The first one being the radar warning receiver, informing about any radar pings or locks from hostile as well as friendly anti-air. For best results, it is highly advised to differentiate how many pings are picked up, and how many friendly radar-equipped anti-air units are present so that one can prepare for possible attacks. Although a radar lock can be a giveaway if anti-aircraft is active, a missile warning system is installed in addition to the radar warning system. It will inform you if any type of missile has been launched at the Tiger UHT, either ground or air-based missiles. Following the missile warning, multiple ways of evasion and countermeasures can be deployed and used, commonly being flares, quickly lowering altitude, changing the direction of flight, bringing hard cover between the helicopter and launch direction.
The most important part about defending against missile systems is altitude, in cases when the missile is below 25 metres over the ground, which will disable the proximity fuse until it reaches above 25 metres again, greatly limiting its effectiveness against low flying/hovering helicopters. This can be used to reliably evade missiles when no hard cover such as a hill is available.
- Conclusion
When deployed properly, the Tiger UHT is a great addition to any line-up. What it lacks against aircraft, it will quickly make up against any ground targets or helicopters.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Optic is mounted above the rotor, has the ability to only expose the optic and fire on enemies
- Wide viewing angles on the Optics allow for instant target acquisition and engagement
- Fire-and-forget PARS-3 LR Missiles
- Very manoeuvrable
- Has RWR and MAW
- Low thermal signature
- Thermal sight
- Very high Zoom on the optics
- PARS-3 can be used against aircraft
Cons:
- With the optic mounted above the rotor looking down you will see the rotor spinning
- Only hardpoint mounted machine guns
- No radar
- IR missiles will lose lock through smoke and obstacles
- Stinger is not effective against fast moving targets greatly limiting self-defence against aircraft
- Only 8 ATGMs compared to its contemporaries with 12 or even 16 ATGMs
- PARS-3 missiles are relatively slow
- Lacks IRCM to counter incoming AAM
History
Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the helicopter in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).
Media
- Skins
- Images
- Videos
See also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the helicopter;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
| Eurocopter Group | |
|---|---|
| Attack | EC-665 Tiger HAD · Tiger HAD Block 2 · EC-665 Tiger HAP · EC-665 Tiger UHT |
| Germany helicopters | |
|---|---|
| Attack | |
| Hip | ◊Mi-8TB |
| Hind | ◊Mi-24P · ◄Mi-24P HFS 80 |
| Tiger | EC-665 Tiger UHT |
| Utility | |
| BO 105 | BO 105 CB-2 · BO 105 PAH-1 · BO 105 PAH-1A1 |
| Alouette | ◄SA 313B Alouette II |
| Huey | ◄UH-1D |
