AIRCRAFT BRIEF
The Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior is an armed scout and reconnaissance helicopter derived from the civilian Bell 206 JetRanger, developed under the U.S. Army's Army Helicopter Improvement Program (AHIP) and first flown in 1983. Its most distinctive feature is the ball-shaped Mast-Mounted Sight (MMS) above the rotor hub, housing a TV camera, thermal imager and laser rangefinder/designator that let the crew observe and designate targets while masked behind terrain. Armed with Hellfire missiles, Hydra-70 rockets, air-to-air Stingers and a .50 cal machine gun, the Kiowa Warrior served as the U.S. Army's primary armed scout from the late 1980s until its retirement in 2017.
SPECIFICATIONS
- manufacturer
- Bell Helicopter
- first Flight
- 1983
- role
- Armed reconnaissance / scout helicopter
- crew
- 2 (pilot + copilot/observer)
- engines
- 1x Rolls-Royce (Allison) 250-C30R/3 turboshaft (650 shp)
- max Speed
- 241 km/h (130 kts)
- range
- 555 km (300 nmi)
- ceiling
- 15,000 ft
- weight
- 2,495 kg (MTOW)