I am always fascinated by doing more with less rather than the other way around. As modern "smart" weapons get ever smarter, smaller and lighter (partly to cater for growing UAV/UCAV needs) it also means that very light aircraft can potentially be more useful than ever.
There have been lots of militarized and/or armed light aircraft over the years -- the MFI/Saab Supporter series and it's Pakistan-produced derivatives, for example -- but I have always wondered why there are no combat versions of very light helicopters like the Robinson R22 and Schweizer 300 series. The little French Djinn cold-jet helicopter could carry anti-tank missiles, too, IIRC.
Obviously, the payload of such helicopters is very small. But even something as small as a ruggedized, single-seat derivative of the tiny Robinson R22 could be useful in some circumstances, hugging the terrain to pop up and spray with a light machine gun and lob of salvo of RPGs, for example.
So, does anyone know of any projects for armed variants or derivatives of very light helicopters, or similar original designs? I am thinking mostly of piston-engined, 2-3 seat light helicopters or their equivalents, though anything in the same spirit would be interesting.
Cheers,
Matthew
There have been lots of militarized and/or armed light aircraft over the years -- the MFI/Saab Supporter series and it's Pakistan-produced derivatives, for example -- but I have always wondered why there are no combat versions of very light helicopters like the Robinson R22 and Schweizer 300 series. The little French Djinn cold-jet helicopter could carry anti-tank missiles, too, IIRC.
Obviously, the payload of such helicopters is very small. But even something as small as a ruggedized, single-seat derivative of the tiny Robinson R22 could be useful in some circumstances, hugging the terrain to pop up and spray with a light machine gun and lob of salvo of RPGs, for example.
So, does anyone know of any projects for armed variants or derivatives of very light helicopters, or similar original designs? I am thinking mostly of piston-engined, 2-3 seat light helicopters or their equivalents, though anything in the same spirit would be interesting.
Cheers,
Matthew