We all know how crucial a combat helicopter is for any modern military. Throughout human history, many helicopterst left a mark on the battlefield. Amongst them, here is the top 5 best attack helicopter of all time.
AH-64 Apache
The Apache, which had its first flight in September 1975 and is now manufactured by Boeing after being originally constructed by Hughes Helicopters (now known as MD Helicopters), did not attain operational status with the US Army until April 1986.
In Operation Just Cause in December 1989, the Apache got its “baptism of fire” in a high-precision assault on Manuel Noriega’s Panamanian Defense Forces Command buildings.
But it wasn’t until Operation Desert Storm in 1991 that the Apache became known.
The AH-64 opened fire on Iraq, destroying two vital early-warning radar installations in the west to provide a “detection-free passage” for the US Air Force’s bombing of Baghdad; from there, Apache crews ploughed through more than 500 of Saddam Hussein’s main battle tanks (MBTs).
The Apache‘s current iteration is extremely potent, boasting weapons like the AGM-114 Hellfire missile, the AIM-92 Stinger, the Hydra-70 and CRV7 70mm air-to-ground rockets, and the M230 30mm chain gun.
AH-1W Whiskey Cobra
The snake with poison The Cobra is the name of several dangerous airplanes, like the P-39 Airacobra fighter plane and its successor, the P-63 Kingcobra, and the Cobra gunship.
The US Marine Corps finally retired the AH-1W Super Cobra in October 2020. During the Vietnam War, between 1969 and 1972, the initial variant of the Cobra helicopter, the AH-1J, performed interdiction missions for the Army and Marine Corps against the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
The United States Marine Corps used the AH-1 Cobra for close air support (CAS) missions in the 1980s.
These missions included the destruction of three Iranian patrol boats in Operation Praying Mantis and the conduct of Operation Urgent Fury off the coast of Grenada.
But like the Apache, the Cobra was at its best during Operation Desert Storm, when it shot down 97 Iraqi MBTs, 104 armored personnel carriers (MPCs), and two AAA emplacements.
The Cobras used various weapons, including a triple-barreled 20-millimeter gun, 70- and 127-millimeter rockets, TOW and Hellfire anti-tank missiles, and Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, to rack up their body counts.
With the Bell AH-1Z “Viper,” the USMC has found a good replacement for the Whiskey Cobra in the future.
Mi-24 “Hind”
The Hind is the most recognizable type of Russian/Soviet attack helicopter. While it first saw service in the late 1970s as a troop transport, the Mi-24 was eventually converted from the Hind-D variant into a gunship.
The Hind-D, which wreaked Havoc against the mujahideen during the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989, motivated the CIA to supply Afghan rebels with Stinger missiles.
It also helped Saddam Hussein put down a Shiite rebellion in the south of Iraq quickly and brutally in March 1991. The Hind has been used in more than 40 wars by more than 40 different countries.
The helicopter’s arsenal is fearsome: depending on the variant, a four-barreled 12.7mm Yak-B machine gun with a rate of fire of 4,000-4,500 rounds per minute, a fixed 30mm barrel mount, or a 23mm built-in and flexibly mounted.
The Mi-24P and Mi-24V are equipped with four underwing pylons for as many as twelve anti-tank missiles such as the Shturm (NATO reporting name AT-6 Spiral).
Ka-52 “Alligator”
We Are the Mighty’s columnist Logan Nye – a former US Army journalist and paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division – calls the Russian Alligator the best attack helicopter in the world.
His reasoning: “Capable of operating at high altitude and speed, the two-seat Ka-52 snatches supplants the typical winner, the Apache.
The anti-ship missiles of the Alligator have greater range than those of the Apache, and the chopper has comparable armor and air-to-air capabilities.”
The Ka-52 was used to deadly effect during Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.
The other side of the coin is that the Alligator has been turned into a fried crocodile tail, so to speak, on multiple occasions by Ukrainian defenders.
Mi-28 “Havoc”
This is the successor to the Hind, which made its maiden flight in 1982 but did not enter service in Russia until 2009. Logan Nye rates it as the third best attack helicopter in the world, behind only the Apache:
Havoc’s anti-tank missiles are capable of penetrating one meter of armor. In addition, it is equipped with pods for 80mm unguided rockets, five 122mm grenade launchers, 23mm cannons, 12.7mm or 7.62mm machine guns, and bombs. In addition, a 30mm gun is installed beneath the nose.
The Havoc made its combat debut during the Russian intervention in Syria, specifically during operations against ISIS in the battle for Palmyra, and has also seen extensive use in Ukraine. For its part, the Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) put the Mi-28 to good use in its own operations against ISIS during the Battle of Ramadi in 2015.
