Army aviation

Army aviation
U.S. soldiers in OH-58D Kiowa and AH-64 Apache helicopters conduct a combat air patrol in Iraq

An army aviation unit is an aviation-related unit of a nation's army, often described as an air corps. These units are generally separate from a nation's dedicated air force, and usually comprise helicopters and light support fixed-wing aircraft.

Tasks

Soldiers rappelling (abseiling) from a JGSDF UH-1H in 2007
A Defender command and control, surveillance and transport aircraft, of the British Army Air Corps
A CH-53G helicopter of the German Army Aviation Corps during Operation Provide Comfort in Northern Iraq
A French Army Light Aviation Eurocopter Cougar in Afghanistan
An Indian Army HAL Dhruv helicopter deploying US troops during a joint exercise

The tasks of each army's aviation units are defined slightly different, depending on nationality. Some general characteristics, however, apply to all army aviation units regardless of provenience:

Equipment

In order to fulfill their manifold tasks, army aviation mostly uses helicopters. These helicopters can be classified into the following categories:

In addition to helicopters, many armies also operate fixed-wing aircraft. They include the following categories:


List of notable national army aviation components

An Argentine Army Cessna T-41D Mescalero AE-054, in 2009

See also

References

    Further reading

    External links

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Military helicopters.


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