“Leave No Soldier Behind”
During the war 7,013 the Huey UH-1 served in Vietnam and of these 3,305 were destroyed. In total 1,074 Huey pilots were killed, along with 1,103 other crew members.
The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed “Huey“) is a utility military helicopter powered by a single turboshaft engine, with two-blade main and tail rotors. The first member of the prolific Huey family, it was developed by Bell Helicopter to meet a United States Army’s 1952 requirement for a medical evacuation and utility h
elicopter, and first flew in 1956. The UH-1 was the first turbine-powered helicopter to enter production in 1960 for the United States military, and more than 16,000 have been built since.[1]
The Iroquois was originally designated HU-1, hence the Huey nickname, which has remained in common use, despite the official redesignation to UH-1 in 1962.[2] The UH-1 first saw service in combat operations during the Vietnam War, with around 7,000 helicopters deployed. The Bell 204 and 205 are Iroquois versions developed for the civil market.
In 1952, the U.S. Army identified a requirement for a new helicopter to serve as medical evacuation (MEDEVAC), instrument trainer, and general utility aircraft. The Army determined that current helicopters were too large, underpowered, or too complex to maintain easily. In November 1953, revised military requirements w
[3] Twenty companies submitted designs in their bid for the contract, including Bell Helicopter with the Model 204 and Kaman Aircraft with a turbine-powered version of the H-43. On 23 February 1955, the Army announced its decision, selecting Bell to build three copies of the Model 204 for evaluation with the designatation XH-40.[4]
Marine Corps
In 1962, the United States Marine Corps held a competition to choose an assault support helicopter to replace the Cessna O-1 fixed-wing aircraft and the Kaman OH-43D helicopter. The winner was the UH-1B, which was already in service with the Army. The helicopter was designated the UH-1E and modified to meet Marine requirements. The major changes included the use of all-aluminum construction for corrosion resistance,[N 3] radios compatible with Marine Corps ground frequencies, a rotor brake for shipboard use to stop the rotor quickly on shutdown and a roof-mounted rescue hoist.
The UH-1E was first flown on 7 October 1963, and deliveries commenced 21 February 1964, with 192 aircraft completed. Due to production line realities at Bell, the UH-1E was produced in two different versions, both with the same UH-1E designation. The first 34 built were essentially UH-1B airframes with the Lycoming T53-L-11 engine producing 1,100 shp (820 kW). When Bell switched production to the UH-1C, the UH-1E production benefited from the same changes. The Marine Corps later upgraded UH-1E engines to the Lycoming T53-L-13, which produced 1,400 shp (1,000 kW), after the Army introduced the UH-1M and upgraded their UH-1C helicopters to the same engine.
U.S. Army
UH-1Ds airlift members of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment from the Filhol Rubber Plantation area to a staging area in 1966.
The HU-1A (later redesignated UH-1A) first entered service with the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, the 82nd Airborne Division, and the 57th Medical Detachment. Although intended for evaluation only, the Army quickly pressed the new helicopter into operational service, and Hueys with the 57th Medical Detachment arrived in Vietnam in March 1962.[13]
The UH-1 has long been a symbol of US involvement in Southeast Asia in general and Vietnam in particular, and as a result of that conflict, has become one of the world’s most recognized helicopters. In Vietnam primary missions included general support, air assault, cargo transport, aeromedical evacuation, search and rescue, electronic warfare, and later, ground attack. During the conflict, the craft was upgraded, notably to a larger version based on the Model 205. This version was initially designated the UH-1D and flew operationally from 1963.
During service in the Vietnam War, the UH-1 was used for various purposes and various terms for each task abounded. UH-1s tasked with ground attack or armed escort were outfitted with rocket launchers, grenade launchers, and machine guns. As early as 1962, UH-1s were modified locally by the companies themselves, who fabricated their own mounting systems.[19] These gunship UH-1s were commonly referred to as “Frogs” or “Hogs” if they carried rockets, and “Cobras” or simply “Guns” if they had guns.[20][21][N 4][22] UH-1s tasked and configured for troop transport were often called “Slicks” due to an absence of weapons pods. Slicks did have door gunners, but were generally employed in the troop transport and Medivac roles.[8][13]
UH-1s also flew hunter-killer teams with observation helicopters, namely the Bell OH-58A Kiowa and the Hughes OH-6 Cayuse (Loach).[8][13] Towards the end of the conflict, the UH-1 was tested with TOW missiles, and two UH-1B helicopters equipped with the XM26 Armament Subsystem were deployed to help counter the 1972 Easter Invasion.[23] USAF Lieutenant James P. Fleming piloted a UH-1F on a 26 November 1968 mission that earned him the Medal of Honor.[24]
Two UH-1B Huey gunships from HAL-3 “Seawolf” sit on the deck of the USS Garrett County in Mekong Delta, South Vietnam.
During the course of the war, the UH-1 went through several upgrades. The UH-1A, B, and C models (short fuselage, Bell 204) and the UH-1D and H models (stretched-fuselage, Bell 205) each had improved performance and load-carrying capabilities. The UH-1B and C performed the gunship, and some of the transport, duties in the early years of the Vietnam War. UH-1B/C gunships were replaced by the new AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter from 1967 to late 1968. The increasing intensity and sophistication of NVA anti-aircraft defenses made continued use of UH-1 gunships impractical, and after Vietnam the Cobra was adopted as the Army’s main attack helicopter. Devotees of the UH-1 in the gunship role cite its ability to act as an impromptu Dustoff if the need arose, as well as the superior observational capabilities of the larger Huey cockpit, which allowed return fire from door gunners to the rear and sides of the aircraft.[8][13]
In air cavalry troops (i.e., companies) UH-1s were combined with infantry scouts, OH-6 and OH-58 aero-scout helicopters, and AH-1 attack helicopters to form several color-coded teams (viz., blue, white, red, purple, and pink) to perform various reconnaissance, security, and “economy of force” missions in fulfilling the traditional cavalry battlefield role.
The Army tested a great variety of experimental weapons on the UH-1; nearly anything that could be carried. The Army desired weapons with large calibers and high rates of fire, which led to the testing of a 20 mm cannon on a large mount bolted to the cabin floor. The size of the weapon allowed very little room for movement. The Army further tested a full size Vulcan cannon firing out the door of a UH-1. It was capable of firing 2400 rounds per minute, or about 40 rounds per second. Despite this being a significant reduction from the nearly 100 rounds per second fired by a standard Vulcan cannon, the installation proved “too kinetic” for the UH-1. Podded versions of the M24 20 mm cannon were tested in combat over Vietnam. There was a wide variety of 7.62 mm automatic weapons tested, including different installations of the M60 machine gun. AS-10 and SS-11 missiles were testing in several different configurations, and so were high capacity rocket launchers such as the XM3 launcher,which had 24 launching tubes. Press photos were taken with the XM5 and XM3 installed on the same aircraft, but this could not actually be used because it was more than the gross take-off weight of the aircraft.[25]
During the 1972 Easter offensive by North Vietnam, experimental models of the TOW-firing XM26 were taken out of storage and sent to South Vietnam to help stop the onslaught. The pilots had never fired a TOW missile before, and were given just crash courses. Despite having little training with the units, the pilots managed to hit targets with 151 of the 162 missiles fired in combat, including a pair of tanks. The airborne TOW launchers were known as “Hawks Claws” and were based at Camp Holloway.[25]
Specifications (UH-1D)
General characteristics
- Crew: 1–4
- Capacity: 3,880 lb (1,760 kg) including 14 troops, or 6 stretchers, or equivalent cargo
- Length: 57 ft 1 in (17.40 m) with rotors
- Width: 8 ft 7 in (2.62 m) (Fuselage)
- Height: 14 ft 5 in (4.39 m)
- Empty weight: 5,215 lb (2,365 kg)
- Gross weight: 9,040 lb (4,100 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 9,500 lb (4,309 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming T53-L-11 turboshaft, 1,100 shp (820 kW)
- Main rotor diameter: 48 ft 0 in (14.63 m)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 135 mph (217 km/h; 117 kn)
- Cruise speed: 125 mph (201 km/h; 109 kn)
- Range: 315 mi (274 nmi; 507 km)
- Service ceiling: 19,390 ft (5,910 m) (Dependent on environmental factors such as weight, outside temp., etc)
- Rate of climb: 1,755 ft/min (8.92 m/s)
- Power/mass: 0.15 hp/lb (0.25 kW/kg)
Armament
Variable, but may include a combination of:
- 2 × 7.62 mm M60 machine gun, or 2 × 7.62 mm GAU-17/A machine gun
- 2 × 7-round or 19-round 2.75 in (70 mm) rocket pods
- 2 × 7.62 mm Rheinmetall MG3 (German Army and German Luftwaffe)
- 2 × .303 Browning Mk II (Rhodesian, twin machine guns mounted on port side)
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