Today I had the opportunity to spend about an hour getting some stick time in with the Little-Bird. The map we were on was the big one with the cloverleaf interchange in the middle. Overall I am impressed with it but I think it will take some thinking to deploy it correctly.



Flight Characteristics:

I was curious as to how they would make this small aircraft fly. Those of you that are familier with the change in handling from the blackhawk down to the Cobra know it is pretty drastic. I wondered if the handling would be to that same scale for the oh-6 down from the Cobra- and if so would it be so damn snappy no one could fly it? However they seemed to have done something interesting. It is sharper than the Cobra but in a somewhat different way. The agility is clearly in the flight model. When you fly you definately feel as though you are in a much lighter airframe than the Cobra. I was easily able to take it under bridges and even fly sideways tracking and firing on a target. They are well suited to landing quickly although it has to be done carefully or it will take a ton of damage from the landing. I think they definately got it right when modeling the flight characteristics of the OH-6.


Mission:

Heres the tricky part. I think the OH-6 will be a very valuable tool on the battlefield as long as the temptation to use it incorrectly is controlled. I know we would all like to do Blackhawk Down style rooftop runs against infantry but I just don't see this as an efficient way to use the vehicle.

What I found was that the oh-6 might be a perfect command and control vehicle. It is after all a scout helo and not an attack helo. The built-in radar scan, just like a uav, has width - not depth. This means I was able to take the bird high into the clouds and hover over key points of the map that needed a radar. I was able to operate above the range and view of any AA vehicles and frequently went unnoticed by the enemy aircraft flying below me. This would be perfect for one person working with the commander to identify sneak attacks or flanking enemy.

The other mission I see this bird fulfilling is troop insertion. This would be a more dangerous role as it exposes the OH-6 to fire. But as I mentioned earlier, the handling allows this thing to be flown mere feet off the ground and sideways! Basically a good pilot should be able to swoop in somewhere, drop people off in a hurry, and get out of the area. I think the oh-6 would be perfect for deploying squad leaders to far away unguarded bases or deploying specops near assests or bridges.

I believe there may come an opportunity when infantry may be identified out in the open and the oh-6 can make some strafe runs, but so far it seems to me that command and control and quick insertions are where this new aircraft will excel.