"Hogs" and "Snakes:" Helicopter Gunships

The expanded use of helicopters for troop and material transport quickly made them the new workhorse of the Army. These early helicopters had almost no armor or weapons, however, leaving flight crews vulnerable to enemy fire.

To fix this problem, the military conducted extensive studies for the development of gunships, helicopters built specifically for the tasks of attack and defense. These new helicopters had a more powerful gas turbine engine, armor plating to protect the crew, and were heavily armed, often with a combination of miniguns, rockets, and missiles. Gunships were designed to fly quickly, pack a punch, and hunt down the enemy.

Their most common job was providing protection for troop transport helicopters by preparing landing zones with intense fire and suppressing enemy fire. As a result of these combined missions there was a twenty-five percent decrease in the death rate of ground troops and a higher number of enemies killed. All branches of the military quickly realized the gunship's potential and began using them in their operations. Soon different kinds of gunships were created for specialized missions.

Huey Gunship

The first gunships were Bell UH-1 Hueys retrofitted with extra armor plating, machine guns, and rocket launchers. These gunships were used throughout the war.

Huey Cobra

The Bell AH-1G Huey Cobra arrived in Vietnam in 1967. This new helicopter was designed specifically for attack. It was streamlined for maneuverability, had room for only two crew members and could support a variety of different weapons platforms depending on its mission: machine guns, grenade launchers, rocket launchers, launching tubes for anti-tank guided missiles, and a nose-mounted rapid-fire cannon.

Seasprite

The U.S. Navy's Kaman UH-2 Seasprite was used to guard planes flying from aircraft carriers to perform search and rescue operations at sea, and later models were equipped to hunt down and destroy submarines.

HA(L)-3 Seawolves

The Seawolves were naval aviators who used Huey gunships to protect the Navy Swiftboats patrolling the riverways of the Mekong Delta. This unique unit developed new strategies for working with boats and excelled at flying dangerous night missions. They also transported the Navy SEAL teams.