Keep your eyes open, there may be new colors on Apaches coming. The Army has been considering changing colors on rotary wing aircraft and I know that it has been tried out. I hate too tease, but I can’t post pics right now, I need to get permission on these first. I think that y’all will like the looks when you see them.
Keep the dirty side down sir!!!,
Mac
SWEET!!!
The standard paint job is a little… um… well… drab.
Interesting, will wait for pic’s, you say Army wide on all helo’s
John
helicopters don’t fly the beat the air into submission
Ther rumor is that all Army has finally learned something that the Marines learned a long time ago, green sticks out like a sore thumb in any environment other that from a hide position in temperate forests, and all Army helos will get rid of the wonderful green paint. Only time will tell what the final outcome will be, but these Apaches are much harder to see when they aren’t green.
No…Your other right sir!
Mac
I’m liking the sound of this more and more! Anything that’ll make it more difficult for an RPG to hit my tail rotor is OK in my book!
Stop teasing, show us pics!!! [xx(] [:D]
Cheers,
Albert [:o)]
But i guess they’ll keep the green for operations set in jungles and forests eh? it’s probably gonna be a different colour fo desert operations and such. can’t wait to see!!
Some shade of gray like their fixed wing aircraft?
John
helicopters don’t fly, they beat the air into submission
Think gray. The shade used by the Marines is effective against widest variety of backgrounds compared to other finishes.
No sir. That’s NOT the H.
Mac
I figured something like that’d be happening soon. Makes sense.
I wonder if these two are any indication of what’s to come;
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/370097/L/
Cheers,
Albert [:o)]
Albert
Most likely, but don’t expect them all to be done overnight. this will be the thrid time I’ve seen the Army change colors. Will take several years for them all to be repainted.
John
helicopters don’t fly, the beat the air into submission
Hey Albert
That is probably more likely than the ones I saw recently. What Spec Ops does first is often what the Army adopts 5-10 years later. I would expect it to take at least 8 years for the Army to paint everything if/when they make a decision to do so.
Just to let everyone else know, it will be a couple of weeks before I can post any pics. When these guys have been established for a while the bad guys will allready know them. The unit has asked that we hold on to any pictures for a while though but they do like the attention they are getting. The aircraft were painted at a Marine paint shop and use the dark over light scheme seen on some of their Cobras.
Mac
Do I have to crew for the LT?
Screaminhelo,
Were they painted in-country? If so, and I know I’m going out on a limb here, but would you be willing, once they’ve been released, to have them published? I’m putting the finishing touches on my Apaches in Afghanistan and Iraq book, and that would be a killer way to end it. Plus, a full color profile… damn!
Drop me an email at jonathan.a.bernstein@us.army.mil
Thanks!
I’ve heard some further rumblings about differently painted Apaches. Cool stuff. Can’t wait to see em!
I was watching ABC tonight and they had some video of the operations around Mosul. The Apaches they showed looked grey, but the picture wasn’t the best and it was hazy. They didn’t look like OD green, but it was probably my imagination
heh heh heh… perhaps not…
OK I saw this one and just had to reply.
First of all I would like to say that I am currently stationed in Iraq ( not much longer )
The next bunch of Apache’s that are in Kuwait waiting to enter theatre, a National Guard Unit, took it upon themselves to have thier Helicopters painted the light gray, like was mentioned above. However there are some ups and downs to this paint job.
The ups; it is harder to see the aircraft during the day with this paint scheme, especially at the altitudes that the Navy and Marines are flying at, normally above 300 ft. The paint also is “cooler” so the infra red missiles have a harder time trying to track it “optically”. IR Missiles, depending on thier model, have the ability to track heat, and visually using a camera. The camera has a harder time detecting the aircraft against the sky.
Now the downs;
I can tell you for a fact that the Army helicopters are not currently flying at 300 ft plus, they are at 100 ft and below, UH-60’s are flying at 50ft here at around 145 knots. So at that angle the gray actually doesnt help. Also at night the gray sticks out like a sore thumb, so people on the ground are able to see it a lot easier. Especially flying at night, during the day thats a different story.
The new proposed paint job is also just a test, and no word on any permenant change in paint jobs.
Also, RPG’s are not guided in anyway, thank goodness, had one shot at me 2 days ago.
However, I just have to add this one in, the biggest danger is NOT The enemy and thier missiles and RPG’s, its US. Flying at fast speeds, at low altitudes, and the weather, and lack of power management in the summer months. So far, the ONLY aircraft that was lost due to enemy contact was the other day, and even then the aircraft was still salvaged. We have been our own worst enemys over here.
sorry, I tend to babble. Hope this clears up some of the questions.
Josh
Wow, very interesting. Thanks for the update and for your service.
Regards,
Albert [:o)]
[#ditto] BUT, to reiterate, THANK YOU for your service AND sacrifices.
Sometimes I think we as Americans, and the rest of the Free World for that matter, forget why we ARE a Free Society.