AH-6M
Contents
Description
The AH-6M "Little Bird" is a class of light helicopters utilized primarily for special operations by the U.S. Army. The prototype was designed to compete in U.S. Army Technical Specification 153 in 1960 for a Light Observation Helicopter (LOH) that could perform personnel extraction, scouting, and light attacks to replace the existing Bell H-13 Sioux fleet. The Hughes Model 369 competed against two other prototypes, developed by Fairchild-Hiller and Bell, for a production contract. The Model 369 had its maiden flight on February 27, 1963. The teardrop-shaped fuselage provided excellent external visibility, and thanks to its four-bladed, fully articulated primary rotor, it was incredibly agile, making it excellent for personnel extraction, scouting, and light attacks. Hughes was given a production contract by the U.S. Army in May 1965. A gunship variant, known as the AH-6, was painted black primarily for night-time operations.
Introduced in the Update "Sky Guardians", the AH-6M "Little Bird" is a twin-seat (gunner and pilot next to each other) light helicopter that can carry a capacity of up to six passengers. With a diverse arsenal of weapons at its disposal, the AH-6M "Little Bird" can conduct a wide range of missions in the game, from scouting to anti-armour. With its exceptional manoeuvrability and small size, it possesses remarkable agility and is capable of performing extreme evasive manoeuvres that most other helicopters cannot. With its thermal imaging device and ballistic computer, it can readily scout for targets for the friendly team and provide close air support with Hydra-70 M247 rockets when necessary. The AGR-20 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS), which converts standard unguided Hydra-70 M247 rockets into precision-guided munitions, is also available for the AH-6M "Little Bird". This enables the helicopter to precisely eliminate lightly armoured targets from a distance, making it a more "economic" alternative when the AGM-114 Hellfire can be saved for heavier armoured adversaries.
General info
Flight performance
Describe how the helicopter behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.
| Characteristics | Max speed (km/h at 1,000 m) |
Max altitude (metres) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AB | RB | ||
| Stock | 223 | 210 | 3475 |
| Upgraded | ___ | ___ | |
Survivability and armour
Examine the survivability of the helicopter. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured, etc. Describe the armour, if there is any, and also mention the vulnerability of other critical systems.
Modifications and economy
| Flight performance | Survivability | Weaponry | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armaments
| Ballistic Computer | ||
|---|---|---|
| CCIP (Guns) | CCIP (Rockets) | CCIP (Bombs) |
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Suspended armament
The AH-6M can be outfitted with the following ordnance presets:
- 38 x Hydra-70 M247 rockets
- 4 x AGM-114K Hellfire II missiles
- 14 x Hydra-70 M247 rockets
- 2 x 7.62 mm M134 Minigun machine guns (6,000 rpg = 12,000 total)
- 2 x 12.7 mm GAU-19 machine guns (1,200 rpg = 2,400 total)
- 14 x APKWS II (M151) missiles
- 14 x APKWS II (M282) missiles
Custom loadout options
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.62 mm M134 Minigun machine guns (6,000 rpg) | 1* | 1* | |||
| 12.7 mm GAU-19 machine guns (1,200 rpg) | 1* | 1* | |||
| Hydra-70 M247 rockets | 7, 19 | 7, 19 | |||
| AGM-114K Hellfire II missiles | 2* | 2* | |||
| APKWS II (M151) missiles | 7 | 7 | |||
| APKWS II (M282) missiles | 7 | 7 | |||
| * M134 Minigun machine guns cannot be equipped in conjunction with GAU-19 machine guns or AGM-114K Hellfire II missiles on the neighbouring hardpoint | |||||
Usage in battles
The AH-6M Littlebird is a great attack helicopter for close air support. Its speed, agility, and small size allow it to make use of cover behind small buildings and hide from enemy tanks and aircraft.
The AH-6M Littlebird has options to carry 7.62 mm Miniguns with Hydra-70 rockets, APKWS, or AGM-114 Missiles. You cannot use both the 7.62 mm Minigun with the 12.7 Minigun on the same side.
Use the AH-6M's excellent manoeuvrability and small size to evade enemy fire. Favour unpredictable flight paths, low-altitude flying, and sudden changes in direction to make yourself a difficult target.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Very agile
- Thermal vision device
- 360° laser
- Wide cockpit view
Cons:
- No armour
- No countermeasures
- Limited loadout options
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
- 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
| McDonnell Aircraft Corporation | |
|---|---|
| Jet Fighters | F2H-2 · F3H-2 |
| F-4C Phantom II · F-4E Phantom II · F-4J Phantom II · F-4S Phantom II | |
| F-15A · F-15C MSIP II · F-15E | |
| Strike Aircraft | AV-8B Plus · AV-8B (NA) |
| Helicopters | AH-6M |
| Export/Licensed | |
| Aircraft | ◄F-4F Early · ◄F-4F · ◄F-4F KWS LV · Phantom FG.1 · Phantom FGR.2 · F-4J(UK) Phantom II · F-4EJ Phantom II · F-4EJ ADTW · Kurnass · Kurnass 2000 |
| F-15J · F-15J(M) · Baz · Baz Meshupar · F-15I Ra’am | |
| ▄AV-8B Plus | |
| Helicopters | Lahatut |
| The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation merged with Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas Corporation. Later it was merged with The Boeing Company in 1997. | |
| See Also | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries |
| USA helicopters | |
|---|---|
| Attack | |
| Black Hawk | MH-60L DAP |
| Choctaw | H-34 |
| Cobra | AH-1F · AH-1G · AH-1Z |
| SuperCobra | AH-1W |
| Kiowa | OH-58D |
| Little Bird | AH-6M |
| Apache | YAH-64 · AH-64A · ▃AH-64A Peten · AH-64A (GR) · AH-64D |
| Utility | |
| Huey | UH-1B · UH-1C · UH-1C XM-30 |
