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
