Helo Capabilities/Limitations Flashcards
Helicopter operations are:
- Tactical movements of Marines, weapons, and material by helicopters to support the ground tactical plan.
- Deliberate, precisely planned and vigorously executed combat operations designed to allow friendly forces to strike over extended distances and terrain barriers to attack when and where the enemy is most vulnerable.
- Conducted with maximum speed, flexibility, and timeliness.
What are the capabilities of helicopter-borne operations?
- Attack enemy positions from any direction
- Overfly or bypass barriers and obstacles and strike objectives in otherwise inaccessible areas
- Conduct deep attacks and raids beyond the forward line of our own troops
- Rapidly concentrate, disperse, or redeploy to extend the area of influence
- Provide responsive reserves allowing commanders to commit a larger portion of their forces to action
- Conduct fast paced operations over extended distances
- Rapidly reinforce committed units
- Conduct night terrain flight with the use of night vision devices, which allows them to locate a landing zone and land without illumination
What are the limitations of helicopter-borne operations?
- Severe weather, extreme heat and cold, and other environmental conditions such as blowing snow and sand that limit flight operations, helicopter lift capability, or flight visibility
- Reliance on airborne communication
- Reduced ground mobility once inserted
- Limited accessibility to supporting arms, especially indirect fires
- Increased logistical considerations (fuel, maintenance, spare parts, facilities, and aircraft availability)
Helicopter-borne operations are vulnerable to:
- Attack by enemy air defense weapons systems during the movement phase
- Attack by NBC systems, because of limited NBC protection and decontamination
- Attacks (ground, air, artillery) during the loading and unloading phases
- Electronic warfare (jamming), due to the heavy reliance on radio communications for command and control
What are the five stages of planning?
- Ground Tactical Planning
- Landing Planning
- Air Movement Plan
- Loading Plan
- Staging Plan
The ground tactical plan specifies:
Actions in the objective area which accomplish the mission
The landing plan consists of:
The ground commander’s guidance concerning the desired time, place, and sequence of arrival of units.
What are some landing contingencies?
- Immediate reembark
- Emergency extract (different LZ then dropped in)
- CasEvac
- TRAP (when aircraft goes down, how do we get aircrew out and destroy the aircraft_
- Hot LZ
- Alternate LZ
- Wrong LZ
The landing plan should plan for:
- Prep fires,
- Preplanned “on call” targets for each phase of the operation
- All fire support assets available
- LZ selection
LZ should be what size?
100-350 ft depending on size of aircraft and obstacles
The air movement plan specifies:
When and how troops, equipment, and supplies will be transported from PZs to LZs
The air movement plan provides:
- Ingress and egress routes
- Air control points
- Aircraft speeds, altitudes, and formations, which are decided by the Air Mission Commander (ACM)
The loading plan is designed to:
- Establish, organize, and control activities in the PZ or aboard ship
- Plan for the movement of troops and equipment to the PZ or flight deck
- Establish priority of loading units
What is the Helicopter capacity of a CH-46E?
12 combat loaded troops
What is the Helicopter capacity of a CH53D/E?
24 combat loaded troops
What is the Helicopter capacity of a MV-22?
24 combat loaded troops
What is the major stick consideration?
Tactical unity vs tactical spread
What is included in a passenger manifest?
Name, rank, service number, and blood type of each individual
What is a MACO?
Marshalling Area Control Officer
Who are the key players?
- Mission Commander (MC) - MAGTF/Bn commander
- Air Mission Commander (AMC) - Senior aviator
- Assault Flight Leader (AFL) - Senior assault support aircraft
- Escort Flight Leader (EFL) - Senior attack aircraft
- Helicopter-borne Unit Commander (HUC) - Senior ground commander
- Marshalling Area Control Officer (MACO) - Co Gunnery Sergeant
- Stick leaders - squad leaders
The staging plan prescribes:
The arrival time of ground units (troops, equipment, and supplies) at the PZ in the proper order for movement
How soon before aircraft arrival should ground units be expected to be in the PZ?
15 minutes
How do you mark an LZ in the daylight?
- Smoke
- Air panel
- NATO “Y”
How do you mark an LZ at night?
- IR Buzzsaw
- IR Strobe
- Chemlight NATO “Y”
What is L-Hour?
The time when the first helicopter in the first lift is to touch down in the LZ.
What are the distances for the NATO “Y”?
- 14 m to form the “V”
- 7 m to form the “I”
What are the lines of the LZ brief?
1) Mission number
2) Location
3) Unit call sign
4) Frequency
5) LZ marking
6) Wind direction and velocity
7) Elevation/size (elevation - to nearest 50 feet, size in meters)
8) Obstacles (wires, fence posts, stumps, flooded areas)
9) Friendly positions: direction and distance
10) Enemy positions: direction and distance (directions in semi-cardinal headings, distance in meters)
11) Last fire received: time and type
12) Direction of fire/distance
13) Clearance to fire: direction and distance
14) Approach / retirement
15) Personnel / equipment (pass sticks rather than passengers, equipment that the Marines don’t carry)
16) Other
Marines are estimated to weigh how much for planning purposes?
240lbs
What is a ZIPPO brief?
A face-to-face conference with the helicopter-borne unit commander, the assault flight leader, and key staff members who jointly plan a helicopter-borne operation in which their units are participating.
