60 years of the AN-1 Cobra combat helicopter

September 7 marked the 60th anniversary of the world's first purpose-built combat helicopter, the AN-1 Cobra. On that day in 1965, its first prototype, Model 209, took to the skies.

The machine was developed by the American company Bell Helicopter at the request of the US Army, which was in dire need of a helicopter of this class during the Vietnam War. The project developed rapidly—it took less than nine months from the first drawings to the completion of the prototype. Bell's specialists were able to cope so quickly by using the improvements made to their very successful UH-1 Iroquois multi-purpose helicopter, also known as the Huey. They borrowed the engine, support system, transmission, and some other important components from it.

Competitors offered more “advanced” combat helicopter designs. But they took quite a long time to develop, and the military needed this equipment “yesterday.” Although there were quite a few complaints about the Model 209, once they were addressed, the Cobra went into mass production. Initially, the military considered it a temporary solution, but the machine remained in production until 2019, with a total of 1,116 units built in 12 main variants.

One of the first serial versions was the AN-1G HueyCobra, which had a single Lycoming T53-L-13 turboshaft engine with a power of 1,100 hp. The helicopter had a fuselage length of 13.5 m, a main rotor diameter of 13.4 m, a maximum take-off weight of 4,300 kg, a maximum speed of 276 km/h, and a range of up to 570 km. The nose of the aircraft housed 1-2 six-barrel 7.62 mm Miniguns or the same number of 40 mm grenade launchers. An arsenal of suspended weapons was provided, including blocks of unguided 70 mm rockets.

In the US, the Cobra was mainly used by the Army Aviation. It was also used by the Marine Corps. The helicopters were exported to 11 countries, including Bahrain, Israel, Spain, Turkey, and Japan. These helicopters continue to serve in at least six countries.

The Americans used Cobras in Vietnam from August 1967. The machine exceeded expectations and became a benchmark for developers of future combat helicopters not only in the US but also in other countries. Bell created a more advanced helicopter, the SuperCobra, based on it.