Bell AH-1S Cobra "Sand Shark"
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-1S 80-23518 was delivered to the US Army in the early 1980s; not much can be found about its career or any combat service. It was retired probably around 2001, and by 2010 it had been demilitarized and flown by San Joaquin Helicopters at Inyokern, California, as a forest fire spotter aircraft. By 2022, 80-23518 was acquired by the Arizona Army Aviation Heritage Foundation and brought to the Commemorative Air Force Arizona Wing Museum at Mesa, and restored back to its military configuration. It was on display by 2023.
80-23518 was painted as "Sand Shark," an AH-1S that served with the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Operation Desert Storm. The name is carried on the engine housing, and "Sand Shark" has immaculate desert camouflage. It is displayed armed with eight AGM-71 TOW antitank missiles. Unfortunately, we visited on a pretty busy day, and so this was the best shot I could get with the Cobra wedged in between a lot of other aircraft.
Bell AH-1S Cobra "Sand Shark"
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-1S 80-23518 was delivered to the US Army in the early 1980s; not much can be found about its career or any combat service. It was retired probably around 2001, and by 2010 it had been demilitarized and flown by San Joaquin Helicopters at Inyokern, California, as a forest fire spotter aircraft. By 2022, 80-23518 was acquired by the Arizona Army Aviation Heritage Foundation and brought to the Commemorative Air Force Arizona Wing Museum at Mesa, and restored back to its military configuration. It was on display by 2023.
80-23518 was painted as "Sand Shark," an AH-1S that served with the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Operation Desert Storm. The name is carried on the engine housing, and "Sand Shark" has immaculate desert camouflage. It is displayed armed with eight AGM-71 TOW antitank missiles. Unfortunately, we visited on a pretty busy day, and so this was the best shot I could get with the Cobra wedged in between a lot of other aircraft.