Bell AH-1F Cobra "Sweet Sixteen"
The Bell AH-1 Cobra (also called HueyCobra) owes its existence to the Vietnam War. While the proof of the air cavalry concept was being proven every day, the US Army was also losing huge amounts of helicopters to ground fire. Equipping the troop-carrying “slicks” with door guns helped, and arming the UH-1 Iroquois/Huey with weapons was another interim solution. Clearly, however, the solution lay with a dedicated attack helicopter that could defend the troop carriers.
Bell, the manufacturer of the UH-1, had been also experimenting with a concept of a heavily armed, turreted, and thin fuselage helicopter. The US Army awarded a proof-of-concept contract to Bell, which replied in a heavily modified Model 47 called the Sioux Scout. It failed to win any orders, but Bell kept at it even as the Army pursued the far more complicated and expensive AH-56 Cheyenne. This resulted in the Model 209, based on components of the UH-1 and the original conceptual design.
With the Vietnam War intensifying and the Cheyenne going nowhere, the Army issued a requirement for an interim solution, which the Model 209—built and tested in only eight months—won easily. The Army ordered 110 AH-1Gs in April 1966 and the type was in action in Vietnam a year later. It was highly successful there, and successive marks of the Cobra would continue to fight in America’s wars since—Grenada and both Gulf Wars. US Army Cobras were upgraded continually in the 1980s, resulting in a dizzying number of variants: the AH-1S (with upgraded engine), AH-1P (with flat glass windscreen), AH-1Q (with TOW missile system), AH-1E (with 20mm gatling cannon in nose turret), and AH-1F (with laser rangefinder and countermeasures). In 1988, the Army finally gave up and redesignated the whole lot as AH-1S.
US Army Cobras were finally retired in 2001, but USMC Cobras remain in service, with the fleet being converted to AH-1Z Kingcobras. Israel, Iran, and Pakistan likewise have used and continue to use their Cobra fleet, and it is generally considered to be the most successful and prototypical attack helicopter.
AH-1F 69-16416 was built as an AH-1G and delivered to the US Army in 1970. Details are sparse as to which units this helicopter belonged to, but it apparently saw combat during both Vietnam (probably during the 1972 Easter Offensive) and the First Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm), which would make it a rarity for Cobras, as the US Army had replaced most of their AH-1s with AH-64 Apaches by 1991. Between its wartime service, it was upgraded to an AH-1F. Because of the last two numbers of its serial number, and the fact that it had never been hit over the course of two wars, 69-16416 was nicknamed "Sweet Sixteen" by its last crew. It was retired in the 1990s and donated to the March Air Museum.
"Sweet Sixteen" is displayed at March's Vietnam Firebase exhibit, wearing the overall olive drab colors Cobras carried during their entire career with the Army.
Bell AH-1F Cobra "Sweet Sixteen"
The Bell AH-1 Cobra (also called HueyCobra) owes its existence to the Vietnam War. While the proof of the air cavalry concept was being proven every day, the US Army was also losing huge amounts of helicopters to ground fire. Equipping the troop-carrying “slicks” with door guns helped, and arming the UH-1 Iroquois/Huey with weapons was another interim solution. Clearly, however, the solution lay with a dedicated attack helicopter that could defend the troop carriers.
Bell, the manufacturer of the UH-1, had been also experimenting with a concept of a heavily armed, turreted, and thin fuselage helicopter. The US Army awarded a proof-of-concept contract to Bell, which replied in a heavily modified Model 47 called the Sioux Scout. It failed to win any orders, but Bell kept at it even as the Army pursued the far more complicated and expensive AH-56 Cheyenne. This resulted in the Model 209, based on components of the UH-1 and the original conceptual design.
With the Vietnam War intensifying and the Cheyenne going nowhere, the Army issued a requirement for an interim solution, which the Model 209—built and tested in only eight months—won easily. The Army ordered 110 AH-1Gs in April 1966 and the type was in action in Vietnam a year later. It was highly successful there, and successive marks of the Cobra would continue to fight in America’s wars since—Grenada and both Gulf Wars. US Army Cobras were upgraded continually in the 1980s, resulting in a dizzying number of variants: the AH-1S (with upgraded engine), AH-1P (with flat glass windscreen), AH-1Q (with TOW missile system), AH-1E (with 20mm gatling cannon in nose turret), and AH-1F (with laser rangefinder and countermeasures). In 1988, the Army finally gave up and redesignated the whole lot as AH-1S.
US Army Cobras were finally retired in 2001, but USMC Cobras remain in service, with the fleet being converted to AH-1Z Kingcobras. Israel, Iran, and Pakistan likewise have used and continue to use their Cobra fleet, and it is generally considered to be the most successful and prototypical attack helicopter.
AH-1F 69-16416 was built as an AH-1G and delivered to the US Army in 1970. Details are sparse as to which units this helicopter belonged to, but it apparently saw combat during both Vietnam (probably during the 1972 Easter Offensive) and the First Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm), which would make it a rarity for Cobras, as the US Army had replaced most of their AH-1s with AH-64 Apaches by 1991. Between its wartime service, it was upgraded to an AH-1F. Because of the last two numbers of its serial number, and the fact that it had never been hit over the course of two wars, 69-16416 was nicknamed "Sweet Sixteen" by its last crew. It was retired in the 1990s and donated to the March Air Museum.
"Sweet Sixteen" is displayed at March's Vietnam Firebase exhibit, wearing the overall olive drab colors Cobras carried during their entire career with the Army.