For educational purposes
The Bell AH-1 Cobra is a single/twin-engined attack helicopter developed and manufactured by the American rotorcraft manufacturer Bell Helicopter.
A member of the prolific Huey family, the AH-1 is also referred to as the HueyCobra or Snake.
It had been developed during the mid-1960s as an interim gunship for the U.S. Army.
The USMC had quickly taken an interest in the type, but sought a twin-engined arrangement for greater operational safety at sea, along with more capable armaments.
The Bell AH-1 Cobra is a single/twin-engined attack helicopter developed and manufactured by the American rotorcraft manufacturer Bell Helicopter.
A member of the prolific Huey family, the AH-1 is also referred to as the HueyCobra or Snake.
It had been developed during the mid-1960s as an interim gunship for the U.S. Army.
The USMC had quickly taken an interest in the type, but sought a twin-engined arrangement for greater operational safety at sea, along with more capable armaments.
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LearningTranscript
00:30June the 8th, 1995, shaken, exhausted and grateful, Air Force Captain Scott O'Grady
00:47is delivered to safety on the USS Kearsarge in the Adriatic Sea.
00:53He's been running, hunted and hungry in Bosnia for days, desperately calling out for help
00:58on his radio.
01:01Later, he describes his relief at the first glimpse of his rescuers.
01:08I looked up and there's a United States Marine Corps attack Cobra helicopter flying over
01:13and I tell you that was a phenomenal sight knowing that now you're not alone in hostile
01:20territory.
01:23The first on scene, clearing the way for a search and rescue team to reach the downed
01:27F-16 pilot, is the Marine attack aircraft, the AH-1W Super Cobra.
01:34The world's first attack helicopter made its debut in Vietnam 30 years ago.
01:39Known as the Snake, the Cobra's unique profile still buzzes across the horizon in war zones
01:45around the world.
01:55The Cobra's swept profile is meant to be deceiving.
01:59Just 90 centimetres across the cockpit, this elusive shape is a real challenge to the enemy.
02:14We use the aircraft for escort purposes of transport helicopters.
02:20We use it for what we refer to as close in fire support and that's where troops are engaged
02:25very closely with the enemy and it's very difficult to sort out good from bad.
02:30We use it for anti-armor and anti-mech missions.
02:36So the aircraft has tremendous multi-mission capability and because it's evolved over the
02:42years to give us that, I think that's why it's become important to us and why it'll
02:47be around for a while.
03:05With the ability to fire more types of weapons than any other helicopter in the world, the
03:10Cobra maintains an impressive arsenal with which to strike its enemies.
03:20It carries up to eight tank-destroying missiles, including laser-designated Hellfire or wire-guided
03:27TOWs.
03:35Sidewinder missiles, 2.75 rockets and Zuni rockets can also be fired from the wing pods.
03:52And traversing 110 degrees on the Cobra's nose, the powerful three-barrelled 20mm cannon.
04:04Two GE T-700 turboshaft engines, each rated at 1690 shaft horsepower, press the Cobra
04:12into action, making it both a nimble aircraft and a steady weapons platform.
04:31At the time Scot O'Grady was shot down, the situation in the former Yugoslavia is grim.
04:37In the preceding weeks, UN advisers have been taken hostage, the Serbs have declared war
04:43on the UN and NATO, and now an Allied US Air Force pilot has been shot out of the sky by
04:49a Bosnian missile.
04:56UN mission planners convene on board the USS Kirsaj, just off the coast in the Adriatic
05:02Sea.
05:03Their job is to assess the threat and put together a package to rescue O'Grady.
05:14Cobra pilot Major Scott Mickelby, the escort flight leader of the rescue team, is most
05:19concerned about the missiles that took O'Grady down.
05:22Sand pads, shoulder-launched sands, they're everywhere back in there.
05:26Do they have trucks, do they have vehicles where they can rapidly reinforce or rapidly
05:30move to where we are, their proximity to their ground forces?
05:34All these things are things that we had to take into consideration.
05:36Roger, Warrior 07, this is EA6V down pilot, I authenticate 14.
05:45The team decides on a delta trap, the tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel for which
05:51Marines such as this group at the air station in New River, North Carolina, train extensively.
05:58Two CH-53s carry infantry.
06:01Two Cobras escort them and suppress threats along the highly dangerous route.
06:08The H1W is perfectly suited for this mission.
06:11It had the speed and it had the agility to get in there and deal with the terrain and
06:16stay with the 53s and provide good, accurate fires in the objective area if we needed to
06:20do that.
06:22Finally, at 3am on June 8th, the call goes out for the trap team.
06:29There are reports of contact with O'Grady in the area where he was shot down.
06:34A few minutes before dawn, the helicopters rumble off the deck of the Kirsaz.
06:39Pilots still unsure whether Scott O'Grady is still alive.
06:49The Cobra's hefty arms load heightens the confidence of air mission commander and 53
06:55pilot Bill Tarberton.
06:59They're our armed aircraft, I mean, that's their mission in life is they're our, you
07:03know, killers.
07:04They protect us and, you know, we use them all the time.
07:07They're going to go ahead of us to make the way clear for the LZ because we take, you
07:11know, time on the ground and, you know, all we have is 250 cal machine guns.
07:19About 16 kilometers from their target location, the Cobras push ahead of the 53s to secure
07:25the area.
07:26You ready to push?
07:27I'll love it.
07:28Scott.
07:29Ben, I'll be over to your right.
07:35One concern that we had was that it may be an ambush, it could be a trap.
07:38Maybe the Serbs did know where he was and they were just waiting for the rescue force
07:42to come in and they could pull us into some type of an ambush in there.
07:46Suddenly, a voice crackles on the radio.
07:49Captain Ian Walsh hears it as he flies the lead Cobra from the back seat.
07:56We first switched up his frequency and Major Mickleby started calling him and you instantly
08:01heard a kind of a garbled response.
08:03To me, individually, that sent a chill down my spine.
08:06So I asked him, I said, hey, when you and your friends got liquored up in high school,
08:09what did they call you?
08:10And he came right back with terrible 10.
08:12So I knew it was him.
08:13So I figured there's no way any Serb would know that.
08:17Once Mickleby confirms it's O'Grady, he directs the Cobras to his location.
08:23I'm approaching the north side of this mountain that's sticking up and he says, Mark, Mark,
08:26you're overhead.
08:27Well, I went into a hard left turn over the top of him and Nick Hall, my wingman, he joined
08:31me there circling and we just started orbiting the position.
08:38When you hear it and then it becomes louder and then all of a sudden you see the Cobra
08:44come over the horizon.
08:46There's no mistaking what it is along with the fact that it's the most beautiful sight
08:49in the world.
08:51He said, hey, I had some movement to the south.
08:52I heard people walking around and so forth and these were obviously the people that had
08:56been looking for him for the last couple of days.
09:06We were in left-hand orbit about 200 to 300 feet above ground level and we were what we
09:13call 180 out.
09:14We were just orbiting.
09:15And what that allowed us to do was in this particular situation allowed us to have set
09:19eyes in each cockpit.
09:20One set eyes looking down at the objective area where O'Grady was and then we still had
09:23a guy on either side of the circle that was able to scan outward and watch for any threat
09:27that was coming in.
09:28Major Mickelby makes the critical decision to bring in the troop helicopters.
09:47Pretty much we'd flipped all of our cards up on the table.
09:49Any serbs in the area would know, hey, something's going on because we've got aircraft circling
09:52over here.
09:53Something's happening.
09:56The LEAD 53, piloted by Bill Tarberton, makes an impressive landing.
10:01Because all of a sudden he just stood the 53 on its tail and, I mean, I've never seen
10:07a 53 do this before, you know, but he stood that thing on its tail and went right down
10:10into the fog on top of the smoke.
10:13Scott and Mickelby made probably the best decision of the whole day.
10:17They asked me if I saw them land.
10:18I did.
10:19I saw them land to the south.
10:20He said, we'll move towards them, gave him permission to advance and I started running
10:24as fast as I could.
10:25Move towards them.
10:26It was actually kind of funny because while he's running, I'm telling him, keep moving,
10:30keep moving, keep going, get to them.
10:33He's taking time to come up on the radio and say, you know, I'm going as fast as I can.
10:36I can hear him breathing hard and everything.
10:37He's on the way.
10:38He's at your right three o'clock.
10:39You got a tally on him?
10:40We're looking.
10:4126.
10:42With the 53s on the ground, there's some confusion.
10:50The Marines look for O'Grady to come out from their right.
10:53They run into the woods to look for him.
10:57I was in the crew chief's window, manning a .50 cal, and as we were setting down, as
11:04soon as we got on the deck, I just happened to look out the aircraft and I seen him running
11:10around towards the nose of our aircraft.
11:12He came out at 10 o'clock, over from that direction over there.
11:16Everybody was looking to the right.
11:18What he had done was worked his way around through the woods.
11:20So at that time, you know, I said, hey, I'm going to go out and get him.
11:24So I opened up the crew door and ran out there to get him.
11:27I had my 9mm pistol out, and he took that away from me because of the fact that he didn't
11:32want that being discharged by accident.
11:35I guess being out there for six days, he didn't want to give the weapon up.
11:38So I just used a wrist tap to get the pistol from him.
11:43Mr. is a big guy, and I wasn't going to argue with him.
11:47Well, he's a real small guy, so, and the .50 cal was hanging out over the edge of my
11:53door, and the terrain was uneven again, so he was having a hard time figuring out how
11:58to get up inside there.
11:59So I just kind of grabbed him by the backside and shoved him, threw him up, whatever you
12:04want to call it, threw him up inside the aircraft.
12:07Magic, align us and have the person.
12:12Many of the infantry are still in the woods as O'Grady boards the troop helicopter.
12:18The urgency is evident in Mickleby's voice as he tries to move the mission along.
12:23You got it, Mick.
12:24You guys got him?
12:25Okay, let's get this show on the road.
12:26We've been in here too long.
12:27This weather's starting to clear, and there's a lot of buildings around here.
12:28I know this, Mick.
12:29I've got to get the people on board.
12:34You've got to remember, their mission is to protect us, and they were above us hovering,
12:37and they were beginning to see the fog was beginning to clear as we were in the LZ.
12:42He was beginning to slide away a little bit.
12:44He was beginning to see some people, and they're spring-loaded to protecting us.
12:51The Marines re-board their choppers and pull out.
12:55To this point, it's been a successful mission.
12:57I said, now this is going to be the toughest part of the mission now, because we've got
13:00this guy, and the tendency is to say, okay, we got him, we're just going back out to the
13:05ship now.
13:06Ahead of them lies a deadly web of SAM sites primed and ready for their return trip.
13:13Far above the returning helicopters, an AWACS warning flashes to the Cobra pilots.
13:19The dreaded SAM sites have been spotted.
13:21From the outside of the aircraft, I see this grayish-white corkscrew smoke trail.
13:27My first instinct was, you've got to be kidding me.
13:31They're not starting that.
13:33Here we are, we're 25, 20, 25 miles from getting feet wet and getting this guy home, and now
13:36all of a sudden they're going to shoot SAMs at us.
13:38You just had a SAM shot at me from three o'clock.
13:45It was just incredibly fast.
13:46In training, we always talk about, okay, this is what we're going to do if they engage us
13:50with a missile.
13:51You don't have time to do it.
13:55Sergeant Pfister fires a few rounds of his .50 caliber machine gun.
13:59The decision is made not to fight, but head for ship with their precious cargo.
14:05The Serbs manage one last shot at O'Grady before he is returned to safety.
14:12One of the bullets went through the helicopter that I was in, actually hit into Sergeant
14:16Castro's canteen and rattled around on the floor, and the Marine that was sitting next
14:21to him just kind of picked it up, looked at it, picked it up, and put it in his pocket.
14:25It went through there, it went down the ramp, and hit a radio up top.
14:29With Cobras leading the way, the mission through high-threat terrain draws to a bloodless end.
14:43For this specific mission, it was the aircraft of choice.
14:46Highly maneuverable, a lot of power, a lot of speed, can stay up with the 53s.
14:50It was a superb mission for the Cobra, and it really showed the value of the aircraft.
15:00When American troops land in Vietnam, they find a guerrilla war, a jungle war with no
15:06discernible front.
15:08Ground commanders need fast and furious ordnance to back up their men wherever they engage
15:13their elusive enemy.
15:22Huey helicopters are rigged with makeshift weapons, but heavy guns and ammunition make
15:27them too slow to keep up with troop and cargo aircraft.
15:36Air Force bombing is powerful, but imprecise, and sometimes dangerous to friendly troops
15:41fighting head-to-head with the enemy.
15:48Bell Helicopter sees the need in Vietnam, and in less than a year, with no military
15:53contract, designs and manufactures the world's first attack helicopter.
16:10By September 1967, the maiden shipment of AH-1 Cobras is on its way to Vietnam, with
16:17key elements like the power plant, transmission and rotors lifted directly from the dependable
16:23Huey.
16:25Armament and weaponry is carried in the chin turret and on the pylons under two wings.
16:39First impressions are stunning.
16:46The aircraft was a tandem seat arrangement like a fighter, and all the ordnance that
16:50could be used on it, and the fact that you could actually protect yourself with it, and
16:55it was a glamorous aircraft at the time, it still is.
17:03Eventually the Cobras fly into action on escort, fire support and reconnaissance missions.
17:09Many pilots are part of the Air Cavalry, units with roots in the Wild West.
17:15These are self-contained strike forces, tailored specifically for aggressive, offensive tactical
17:20operations.
17:22The pilots take on the esprit de corps of the Horse Cavalry, made famous in the epic
17:27Apocalypse Now.
17:37It was a devil may care attitude, live for today, carpe diem.
17:43John Barron is a 22-year-old Cobra pilot, based 50km south of the demilitarized zone.
17:50These scenes of his 2nd of the 17th Cavalry unit were shot with his camera.
17:57We were out there pushing the envelope, we were out there kicking the devil in the teeth,
18:01and waiting to see what would happen.
18:03A lot of people died, so you know, you didn't know if you were going to be dead tomorrow
18:08or what.
18:11So basically, 21 years old out there, fighting hard, playing hard.
18:25Chief Warrant Officer Barron flies reconnaissance in what are widely known as hunter-killer
18:30teams.
18:31Usually, a combination of a Loach Observer Helicopter and a Cobra.
18:36The two aircraft fly together from dawn till dusk, trying to pick a fight with an enemy
18:40that doesn't want to be found.
18:49It was a guerrilla-type order, stay concealed, get the ammunition or the rockets or whatever
18:54they were hauling to their destination.
18:57And our job was to find their supplies and destroy their supplies.
19:0521-year-old graduate Bob Sidonio flies the Loach, the little bird.
19:10His job is to get down as close to the ground as possible, hot on the trail of the Viet Cong.
19:18We would follow footprints through little holes in the trees, we would find debris from
19:24wrappers from cigarette packages, wrappers from food.
19:27They would step in water and they'd actually leave muddy footprints swirling in the water
19:30if they had just recently passed because the water didn't move very fast in a lot of places.
19:35And it would be muddy.
19:36You could see that.
19:37We'd actually start picking up mosquitoes striking the aircraft, leaving splotches of
19:41blood from feeding on the humans down there.
19:44And that would give us a good idea of how close we were.
19:48Barron's Cobra hovers high, waiting for Sidonio's Loach to stir up trouble.
19:5322 and 27, 17's going to be popping up and taking a look and if you'll stay down, I'll
20:02call you up.
20:03Roger.
20:04I referred to the Scout as a punk kid brother.
20:07He'd walk up and kick the devil in the shins and then I had to come in and actually fight
20:12the devil.
20:15We would be trying to approach from downwind and we would also be trying to approach from
20:18downhill as much as possible to minimize our noise signature and keep the gun in a position
20:23where we could bring our own gun to bear if necessary.
20:26The Cobra would be flying at an altitude of approximately 1,500 to 3,000 feet off the
20:30ground to allow them to maintain a position where they'd be able to dive at any time to
20:33protect us.
20:34Out of the road three zero, Y-1-7 here.
20:36Hold your position south.
20:38Say again?
20:39Hold your position south.
20:40Action coming your way.
20:42Roger, Y-1-7.
20:45The scout pilot's spot reports a lot of times was like a Geiger counter in the sense that
20:49they would talk normal tone of voice, we got a road down here and it looks like it has
20:53traffic in the last two to three days and they got some spider holes next to it and
20:59it looks like spider holes.
21:00Take it, fire.
21:01Once the hunter provokes a fight, the killer swoops in. For pilots so young,
21:16they showed an incredible desensitivity to their actions.
21:19I tried to put ammunition on them and also ammunition as close to the little bird as
21:30possible so that people that were under him hadn't had a chance to start shooting and
21:34knock him out of the air. He was very vulnerable during those first few seconds of the engagement
21:39because he had to transition to speed to get out of there. And at that time, his nose is
21:45pointed at the ground. If his engine gets shot out, that's where he's going. It's right straight down.
21:50It needs to be nearly instantaneous. The gun cover that we had in my troop was excellent.
21:56They could tell simply by the way the aircraft maneuvered
21:59that there was trouble coming and they were already inbound with the sights on a target area.
22:08We would catch somebody unawares. We'd catch a unit while it was enroute from one location to
22:13another location and we would pin them down until we could get some more suppressive fires
22:18out there to destroy them. A majority of our contacts were very violent, very short skirmish
22:25is. Sidonio engages the enemy day after day and soon proves how vulnerable the poorly armed
22:38Loach really is. I was shot down a total of eight times flying scouts.
22:45In one particular battle, I left three aircraft at the same road intersection in two days.
22:561970. An invasion of Cambodia amid a US promise to pull out of Vietnam results in a scorching
23:04backlash in the States. Those who thought the war was over now realize it will drag on.
23:10Protests, then riots break out around the country with disastrous results.
23:16Throughout the next year, President Nixon continues the process of Vietnamization,
23:21handing the war over to President Choe and his South Vietnamese forces
23:26so Americans can finally go home.
23:31Cobra pilot John Barron left Vietnam to be married but is called back for an offensive
23:37meant to thwart a mounting threat of a North Vietnamese invasion.
23:40US advisors and ground troops are held back from the action. The only Americans
23:46ordered into Laos are pilots including John Barron and Bob Sidonio.
23:53The US is now the only country in the world to have a military leader.
23:59The US is now the only country in the world to have a military leader.
24:03The only Americans ordered into Laos are pilots including John Barron and Bob Sidonio.
24:10We were hearing from the local hire personnel that we were going to be moving and that they
24:15wanted to know if they were going to continue to keep their jobs or were they going to get
24:18paid while we were gone. So we had a good idea that possibly the mission had been compromised
24:25before we ever left. The troops are to leapfrog by helicopter and convoy along an east-west supply
24:32line into Laos and seize the town of Che Pong. Neither the pilots nor the South Vietnamese
24:39troops are prepared for what awaits them in this February offensive known as Lam Son 719.
24:50The thinking in Saigon was let the South Vietnamese cross into Laos and destroy
24:57North Vietnamese emplacements, take a major supply area in this town of Che Pong,
25:04prove they had what it takes to fight a real battle. But ironically of course the US had
25:12never gone into Laos in the past and it was always regarded as a very dangerous venture.
25:20After a promising start by the South Vietnamese, the NVA mounts a brutal counter-attack.
25:27The North controls this territory, they're not about to give it up.
25:31These are North Vietnamese regulars, not poorly armed Viet Cong of the South.
25:37This is no longer a guerrilla war, these are conventional weapons,
25:42yet the Americans still find it impossible to gain parity.
25:47The pilots are up against a highly motivated enemy.
25:51For John Barron, it becomes a very different war.
25:57At that time they were still operating at altitude, they thought 1500 feet was a safe
26:02altitude for small arms, 7.62, they were being shot at by 23, 37, 57, in some cases SAM missiles.
26:11I had a SAM pass by me one time while I was flying.
26:15The deadly anti-aircraft environment is a nightmare for American pilots.
26:20Helicopters are picked out of the sky by deadly North Vietnamese weaponry.
26:38The poorly armed scouts flown by Bob Sidonio are grounded.
26:4990% of Cobras sent into Laos suffer significant damage. The losses are devastating.
26:58There was nine aircraft commanders in my troop and I was one of two that was still
27:03there, either they'd been killed or wounded during the initial onslaught.
27:08In a desperate move to stay alive, Cobra pilots swooped down to fly at
27:16and below the treeline in Laos, dodging fire, confusing the enemy.
27:26The vegetation itself was working for us in the sense that the guys on the ground could only see
27:32you for a short period of time if you were lower. They couldn't get a chance to track you and even
27:37if they did get a chance to track you, they didn't have much time to shoot at you.
27:42This is a momentous change in tactics to what is called
27:46nap of the earth flying, which the Cobra and other helicopters have used effectively ever since.
27:52The Cobras improve their survival rate, but the Lam Son operation falls completely apart.
27:59I didn't think that the South Vietnamese army had the drive that the North Vietnamese army had.
28:05I don't know if it was training or morale or what. It just seemed like they weren't pushing as hard
28:12to drive the the Cobra and the LamSon, and I think that's what they were trying to do.
28:21The North Vietnamese back.
28:27After weeks of scathing and unanticipating North Vietnamese assaults
28:31and a mounting battle toll, nearly 2,000 dead, 5,000 wounded, and with 107 helicopters destroyed,
28:40the military decide to pull out before the nightmare gets worse.
28:51It was pandemonium. It wasn't a controlled extraction like a lot of extractions. It was,
29:01you know, if we can get out of here, let's get out of here.
29:14In the end, when the withdrawal was ordered,
29:18many of the soldiers, you know, fled through the jungle. Others just grabbed helicopter
29:23skids and came out hanging onto the skids of helicopters in pictures that were very demoralizing
29:30to the Vietnamese per se and to the rest of the world. I mean, it looked like a complete rout,
29:35which in fact it was. It was a mistaken operation.
29:48By 1972, the question of whether the Cobra can provide close air support
29:53on a full-fledged conventional battlefield remains unanswered.
30:18The proving ground comes on March the 30th, 1972, Easter Eve. North Vietnamese General Nguyen Yap
30:27takes advantage of a stepped-up U.S. withdrawal and sends 200,000 troops smashing into South Vietnam
30:34in three critical locations. The goal? To divide the country and snatch it from President Dieu.
30:42The Russians told them, don't mess around with this little guerrilla warfare anymore. You can't
30:47win it that way. Go Blitz Creek and we'll give you the tanks and so forth. So most of our troops...
30:53Colonel Bill Miller is the senior American advisor in An Loc, a provincial southern capital
30:59strategically located on Highway 13, within striking distance of Saigon.
31:12Coming to An Loc, hit us from three sides, moved in with tanks and infantry and artillery like,
31:19my God, you ain't never seen it like it before. It was like popcorn popping.
31:23I mean, it wasn't no damn guerrilla war about that. I mean, that was for real.
31:28It was a dagger aimed at the heart of Saigon, and it would have made future
31:36negotiations on the course of the war very difficult for the United States.
31:46As the North Vietnamese advanced towards An Loc, an aerial field artillery unit called the Blue Max
31:52based just north of Saigon, goes on high alert.
31:59Former Greenberry Major Larry McKay is the commander of the Cobra unit. Call signed Serpent Six.
32:07There were nine battalions. That's a big unit. One battalion is a big unit. Nine battalions of
32:15anti-aircraft that the North Vietnamese brought down.
32:22It went from a low intensity to high intensity and just passed right through a mid-intensity.
32:36With 15,000 civilians to worry about in An Loc,
32:40Bill Miller set up a headquarters with other advisors to try to get a handle on the battle.
32:46Suddenly, six NVA T-54 tanks reached the town's main street and rumbled towards Miller's bunker.
32:56So it gave way and we lost about half of what we had.
33:02And two or three of the tanks got through the line of fire.
33:06And two or three of the tanks got through the line. Somebody come up on my push and said,
33:14this says Serpent Six. And I said, what you got? He said, I got a flight of Cobras. I said,
33:21ooh, there's too much anti-aircraft here. I think if you ever roll in, you might not roll out.
33:28He said, negative, negative, sir. I got HEAT, and that's high explosive anti-tank.
33:36And I said, you beautiful dog.
33:42Mackay's Cobra unit has a brand new shipment of advanced anti-tank rockets,
33:48rarely used in Vietnam to this point.
33:52Miller knows the Cobra and HEAT rockets are a lethal combination for the North Vietnamese.
34:00This would be a critical test for the as yet unproven Cobra,
34:05swooping down and with the element of surprise in their favor,
34:09the Cobras attack the unsuspecting tanks below.
34:12We rolled in at a very steep angle for us because we did not want the rockets to get off target.
34:20And so we were concerned primarily about Americans
34:24underground, Vietnamese underground and Vietnamese civilians underground.
34:28They deal with that big mother up front first.
34:33And the most beautiful sight could ever be seen in any man's eyeballs is when there's an iron horse
34:39out there, see a Cobra lower his nose ever so slight, just like he's flying down a clothesline
34:47like that and shoots those rockets.
34:51The tank back immediately exploded.
34:55It was near the gas area.
34:57And I think that that assisted us in what had happened.
35:00And we clearly knew that the lead tank was immobilized.
35:06The Cobras take out three tanks in all,
35:09stunting the North Vietnamese force inside the city.
35:13Beside me, the South Vietnamese, it might have been a colonel,
35:17I think he was the intelligence officer.
35:18Had some radios on a North Vietnamese net.
35:23And he said the tankers in Anlock was calling back to the command, enemy tankers now,
35:29called him back, said, hey, you said they wouldn't come in on us if they got inside town,
35:33said the Americans wouldn't bring it in on their own troops.
35:36So what do we do?
35:38That's not the end of the fighting.
35:40A bitter 90-day siege follows.
35:44Associated Press reporter, Peter Smith,
35:47Associated Press reporter Peter Arnett drove into the city to see the destruction.
35:53All the buildings were destroyed.
35:54There was carnage in the streets.
35:56There were many casualties amongst the civilians and the soldiers.
35:59It was a mess, that city.
36:02But at least it had held.
36:08The deadly follow-up of B-52 strikes and other US air power
36:12pummels the North Vietnamese, finally throwing back the force in mid-July.
36:21Mackay's Cobra unit destroys 20 T-54 tanks in all.
36:26But not without losses.
36:28Eight out of 32 Blue Max pilots are killed.
36:33Anlock has proved itself a place on the modern battlefield for the attack helicopter.
36:38But the Cobra will need precision-guided standoff weapons to remain effective.
36:52Colonel Miller believes Anlock would not have held at all,
36:56had it not been for the actions of the Cobras on that first day.
37:00He had Anlock, but the bastard didn't know he had it.
37:05And I'm here to tell you, those Cobras was the instrument
37:10that caused it to kind of the pendulum to swing back and let us be defensive.
37:18Three years later, free of the threat of lethal American air power,
37:22the North Vietnamese roll into Saigon and seize the South Vietnamese capital.
37:28Five, four, three, two, one, hack.
37:32Time was 10.15.
37:34Okay, everybody's here.
37:35Just had your time hack.
37:36Aircraft...
37:37This briefing of Cobra and CH-53 pilots at Marine Corps Air Station New River
37:42in Jacksonville, North Carolina, is a familiar scene.
37:46The Marines fly the updated AH-1 Whiskey Cobra
37:50as their main battlefield attack helicopter.
37:52And the main battlefield attack helicopter is the Cobra.
37:56And the only other change I have is on the very front part.
38:00And this is for the skid guys.
38:02Ordinance load, four toes, eye toes, four hellfire,
38:05seven, 2.75 HE, seven, 2.75 plus shed, 600 rounds.
38:10And as the battlefields of the world invariably evolve,
38:13so does the Cobra gunship.
38:16The Marines added a second engine in Vietnam,
38:19giving the aircraft greater power and range
38:22so it could fly off ships and carry more weaponry.
38:27The power plant is improved.
38:36The fuel system is designed to survive direct .50 caliber hits.
38:45The Marine version is the only attack helicopter
38:47protected against harsh environments like salt water and desert sand.
38:57The latest improvement to the Cobra,
38:59the night targeting system or NTS,
39:02gives the Cobra a night point target capability
39:05to support the troops.
39:08Desert Storm veteran Colonel Ken Canazza
39:11says the limitations of the Cobra
39:13without the night targeting system
39:16became most obvious during the Gulf War.
39:20We just had the basic whiskey.
39:21So at night, we were strictly relying on our goggles
39:25and artificial illumination flares
39:28and as such to be able to see our targets.
39:31Many times at night, we let targets go
39:33because we couldn't identify specifically
39:36that they were not American.
39:38So if we couldn't tell, we wouldn't shoot.
39:42That's not to say that during the Gulf War,
39:45the Cobra isn't busy and effective.
39:48Despite its lack of sophistication,
39:50the Cobra proves itself a dependable weapon.
39:54We generally kept the Cobras close to the lead forces
40:12and then when we needed them, we'd get them airborne
40:14and we'd run them in a racetrack pattern
40:16so that we would be behind the attacking forces
40:19but close enough to the lines
40:20that we could pick up the target designations
40:23and fire our missiles.
40:25And we kept that continuous throughout the attack
40:28on the first day, second day and the third day of the war.
40:34General Mike Myatt commands one of two U.S. Marine divisions
40:38set to push through Iraqi minefields
40:41and on to Kuwait City.
40:43The plan is that about 0600,
40:46Ripper starts the explosive breach.
40:49We made more ground that first day
40:52than we had really felt possible.
40:57We'd actually gone through two obstacle belts.
40:59These are the same two obstacle belts
41:01that the Iraqis had put in and prepared
41:04and put mines and ditches for months.
41:08Myatt sets up his command post
41:11on the edge of a fire-raging oil field
41:13ignited by retreating Iraqis on the eastern side of Kuwait.
41:18The area looks unnavigable.
41:21Hours later, Myatt receives an urgent radio call
41:24from a task force commander.
41:26And he'd found in there some counter-terrorist units
41:29that were in the area.
41:30And he's told them to get out of the area
41:32as soon as possible.
41:33And he's told them to get out of the area
41:34as soon as possible.
41:36And he'd found in there some counter-attack plans
41:38that the Iraqis had planned
41:40for the 5th Mechanized Division to attack right at my CP.
41:44So he called me and he said,
41:46General Myatt, I think, you know,
41:48I know you're counting on this secure flank up there,
41:51but he said, you know, you may need some help.
41:55So then we put together this TOT,
41:58all of the artillery pieces to fire on one grid
42:02and then shifted to fire on another grid.
42:06It's like stirring up a hornet's nest.
42:14Out from the oil field,
42:16roars tank after Iraqi tank,
42:18pushing within yards of Myatt's command.
42:22They call it danger close.
42:29Myatt calls in the Cobras
42:30with their tow and hellfire missiles
42:33to destroy the tanks.
42:35The Cobras work closely with the Marines on the ground
42:48for the next several hours.
42:52They were so close to us
42:53that the 20 millimeter casings
42:56from the Cobra helicopters firing at the Iraqis
42:59were actually landing in my tent.
43:01If it wasn't so scary,
43:03it was just absolutely a beautiful sight.
43:06After expending enormous amounts of energy,
43:11ammunition and fuel,
43:13Iraqi units surrender en masse to the Marine division.
43:28The most telling challenge for the Cobras
43:30comes on day three of the ground war
43:32when the weather turns sour
43:34with mist and rain conspiring with smoke from the oil fires
43:38as the Marines try to push forward to Kuwait City.
43:42Squadron Commander Mike Kurth.
43:45I can only describe it as like
43:47something out of Dante's Inferno.
43:49You get some appreciation for exactly what that was like.
43:53It was absolutely bizarre.
43:55General Mayatt's division advances north
43:58towards Kuwait International Airport
44:00when his forces come upon the Iraqis.
44:04The troops need backup,
44:06but the Cobra's night vision goggles
44:08are unable to guide them through 20 kilometers
44:10of burning oil fields and dismal weather.
44:16Help comes when Colonel Kurth
44:18volunteers to lead the troops to the airfields.
44:21Help comes when Colonel Kurth
44:24volunteers to lead the Cobras in a Huey helicopter
44:27fitted out with a forward-looking infrared system.
44:35I'd take about four attack helicopters,
44:37I'd line them up behind me,
44:38turn my lights on,
44:40and I'd have them follow me through the smoke
44:42until we got to a clear area.
44:46He was able to find that,
44:49come back through this smoke.
44:51It was like midnight out there.
44:53He was a pathfinder,
44:55up through the enemy lines,
44:56up towards the front lines.
44:59He just did it all day long,
45:00back and forth,
45:02a couple of times,
45:02rounds being fired all the time.
45:04He's going right through the battle
45:05to get our forces right to where they needed to be.
45:12For nearly 12 hours,
45:14Kurth leads Cobras up to the front
45:17where they blast away at tanks
45:18and help the Marines secure the airport the next morning.
45:23The Allied forces move on to recapture Kuwait City
45:26from the retreating Iraqis,
45:28and Colonel Kurth moves on to receive the Navy Cross for Valor.
45:49It made all the difference in the world.
45:51Without Colonel Kurth's efforts out there,
45:53we would have won the battle.
45:54I don't think we would have lost,
45:55but we would have had a lot more casualties than what we did.
45:58He made the difference in getting forces to the front lines
46:01to support the ground.
46:08The action also makes it clear
46:10that Cobras desperately need the FLIR and night targeting system.
46:15The Cobra has changed its skin so often,
46:18it's turning into a different kind of snake.
46:23That may be why rumor has it
46:25the next incarnation of this attack aircraft,
46:27with a four-bladed bearing-less rotor,
46:30may be called the Viper.
46:32The Viper will have a computerized cockpit,
46:35digital communications,
46:37six extra weapon stations,
46:40a moving map display,
46:42and will fly 25% faster than its present top speed of 190 knots.
46:49The Viper will have a new engine,
46:51a new engine that will be able to deliver
46:53the maximum power to the target.
46:56The Viper will have a new engine,
46:58a new engine that will be able to deliver
47:01the maximum power to the target target
47:03at 190 knots.
47:07After decades of battle,
47:09this lethal flying machine
47:11is turning faster,
47:13meaner,
47:14and more deadly.
48:00you