Chapter 580 A False Alarm

The AH-1 attack helicopter is a special anti-tank attack helicopter developed by Bell Helicopter for the US Army in the mid-1960s. It was also the first anti-tank helicopter in the world at that time. One of the important functions of this helicopter is to deal with ground tank forces!

Under the short wings on both sides, there are four anti-tank missiles hanging on the outside, and on the inner racks are rocket launchers. Now, these armed helicopters fly over the heads of the M1 tanks and fly towards the Iraqi ground forces!

"Shilka anti-aircraft guns, come up quickly!" Ali shouted loudly on the radio, his voice a little anxious.

Only then did he realize that the vanguard of the American tank forces did not come up to die, but did it on purpose!

When tank troops are marching, in order to avoid being attacked from the air by the enemy, they must have the necessary anti-aircraft firepower. In the Soviet organization, the Shilka anti-aircraft gun occupies a major position. This quadruple-mounted self-propelled anti-aircraft gun has strong firepower and high rate of fire, which can effectively protect its own air safety. In combat, this anti-aircraft gun is also quite powerful. In the Yom Kippur War in 1973, one-third of the 300 aircraft lost by Israel were shot down by this type of anti-aircraft gun. In the subsequent Gulf War, even if the United States had air superiority, in places where Shilka self-propelled anti-aircraft guns were present, aircraft would not fly at an altitude of less than one thousand meters to avoid losses.

Originally, this type of self-propelled anti-aircraft gun was supposed to accompany its own tank troops, but after encountering the ground tank troops, this type of anti-aircraft gun moved back.

That was a collision between main battle tanks. Although the Shilka self-propelled anti-aircraft guns also had tracked chassis, the outer armor could only protect against fragments at most, and could not stop the bombardment of tank guns at all, so they stayed back and did not move forward. Later, the formation gradually expanded, and their own tank troops rode away and continued to move forward to take the main combat mission, while the self-propelled anti-aircraft guns stayed back.

And now, the sudden appearance of these armed helicopters made it impossible for the self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to react. They switched from marching state to combat state very quickly, but now they are behind the tank troops and cannot provide effective fire cover!

The Americans separated the Iraqi army's tanks and self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery units, and then they could attack at ease!

Ali gritted his teeth and waited for his own self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to catch up. It would take two or three minutes, and during this time, a large number of his tanks would fall!

"Load the cannon and missiles and prepare to attack the helicopter!" Ali continued to give orders.

There was no point in retreating. The tanks simply couldn't keep up with the speed of the helicopters. Before the self-propelled anti-aircraft guns came over, the team could only rely on self-rescue! Rely on the anti-aircraft machine guns on the top? That thing, if it was laid flat, it could only kill infantry. The only way was to rely on the cannon to fire missiles, shooting down planes from above and tanks from below!

"Boom!" The tank gun of the front tank fired a missile. At the same time, the helicopter on the opposite side also urgently pulled up and flew to the side!

The maneuverability of the helicopter far exceeds that of the tank! As the helicopter turned its course, the tank's turret also rotated, but soon disappeared from sight.

The artillery-launched missile that flew out missed the target!

How insidious! The enemy knew that they couldn't deal with our artillery missiles, so they simply circled around to make our missiles miss the target! At the same time, the enemy's circle put us in a dilemma, and our turret rotated with it, leaving the most vulnerable back of the head to the American tank troops!

Attacked from both sides! Although Ali had studied at a professional armored forces academy and had experienced many wars, this was the first time he had encountered such a scene!

This time we are in big trouble! Ali couldn't help but think to himself, is this battle going to be lost? If only our tank troops had an equal number of armed helicopters!

Just as he was thinking about how to respond, Ali suddenly discovered that the armed helicopter flying overhead suddenly changed its course, as if it was trying to escape. What was going on?

Ali opened the hatch and stuck his head out. He was almost suffocating inside the tank. He turned his head and saw behind him: reinforcements had finally arrived!

The most effective weapon against tanks is air power! Both sides knew this. The United States deployed a large number of A-10 attack aircraft to fight tanks on the front line. However, due to the bombing of Scud missiles, the US attack aircraft were almost destroyed and unable to strike Iraq's armored forces. Only the 1st Cavalry Division's armed helicopters escaped because they were not stationed at Prince Sultan Air Force Base.

Iraq also sent attack aircraft. The one that has arrived at the front line is the Su-25K, a dedicated ground attack aircraft!

The Su-25 is a subsonic close air support attack aircraft manufactured by the Sukhoi Design Bureau. It has a simple structure, thick and strong armor, is easy to operate and maintain, and is suitable for direct low-altitude close support operations for its own army in the harsh environment of the front battlefield. This attack aircraft can be said to be the counterpart of the US A-10 attack aircraft.

This aircraft was developed in 1968, first flew in February 1975, and began mass production in 1976. It was also flown in the Afghan War to test its actual combat effectiveness. At the same time, the simplified export version of this aircraft, the Su-25K, also began to be manufactured. Last year, 30 of these aircraft were exported to Iraq.

This was the first time this aircraft was put into actual combat flight! The short and sturdy appearance earned this aircraft the nickname of Frogfoot, but the missiles hanging under the wings represented the powerful attack power of this fighter!

In addition to the DPGsh-301 30mm twin-barreled machine gun on the left side of the belly, there are a total of ten hanging points under the wings. The inner side is mounted with an 80mm multiple rocket launcher, followed by a 500kg incendiary bomb. The two middle racks are twin-mounted anti-tank missiles, and the outermost ones are R-60 air-to-air missiles.

For helicopters, it is a sure thing to snipe the enemy's tank troops. If they encounter the enemy's armed helicopters, they can also give it a try. However, if they encounter fixed-wing fighters, they have to run as far as possible! No matter what kind of aircraft the enemy is, as long as it is a fixed-wing, its combat effectiveness is far greater than that of a propeller helicopter!

So, after discovering the Iraqi fighter jets, the AH-1 helicopter gunships that had just been so aggressive increased their power and turned to fly away, leaving the troops behind. They were carrying anti-tank missiles. How could they attack fixed-wing aircraft? No way!