AH-99 Blackfoot

Blackfoot
Faction	NATO
Type	Reconnaissance Attack Helicopter
Seats	2 seats: 1× Pilot 1× Gunner
Item capacity	None
Top speed	~ 365 km/h
Service ceiling	~ 3,300 m
Fuel capacity	500 L
Primary armament	Main: 1× Minigun 20 mm 2× DAGR Rocket Pods [Default] 4× ASRAAM AA [Default]
Secondary armament	Targeting: 1× Laser Designator Defensive: 240× Countermeasures (Flare/Chaff)
Variants	None
Games

The AH-99 Blackfoot serves as NATO's primary helicopter gunship in ArmA 3.

Overview

• Roles:
  • Observation
  • Reconnaissance
  • Light gunship
  • Laser targeting

Design

The Blackfoot is a five-bladed, rotary-wing stealth helicopter designed for both armed reconnaissance and ground attack duties.

Armament
By default, the Blackfoot is armed with a 20 mm minigun mounted onto an external gun turret fitted beneath the cockpit. It is pre-loaded with a 1,000 round belt of high-explosive (HE) shells.

It has up to six pylons (three on each wing) stored within retractable internal bays on either side of the fuselage that support dynamic loadouts.

• Any of the following munitions can be fitted onto either the innermost or outermost pylons (1-2, 5-6):
  • ASRAAM (1×)
  • Scalpel (1×)
  • DAGR (12×)
  • DAR (12×)
• The centre pylons (3-4) on both wings can only fit the following two missile types:
  • ASRAAM (1×)
  • Scalpel (1×)

The gunner's turret also has a laser designator that can be used to mark targets for its own DAGR rockets, or for precision guided bombs dropped from fixed-wing jets like the GBU-12.

Features
The Blackfoot's rotors are modified so that they operate much more silently. It is more difficult to hear a Blackfoot flying in compared to the Mi-48, which can be easily heard from many kilometres away.

Meanwhile, its stealth coating also ensures that fighter aircraft and anti-aircraft vehicles like the ZSU-39 will have difficulty detecting it from afar; provided that the crew do not activate the Blackfoot's own radar while within range of their sensors.

Mobility
Unlike its bulkier and cumbersome CSAT counterpart, the Blackfoot is highly agile and very fast for its size, though subsequently it is not-as-well armoured in comparison. Nonetheless, it can gain lift and generate thrust rapidly at almost any angle and direction.

Its manoeuvrability rivals the MH-9, but in comparison is far better armoured and equipped to deal with a variety of threats. However, the Blackfoot does have a slight problem with losing a lot of lift while performing high speed/high-G turns, or from pulling out of a dive.

Crew Capacity
The Blackfoot has only a seating capacity of two personnel; a crew that consists of the pilot and gunner.

Stealth

The Blackfoot provides limited stealth against active radars and infrared sensors. When pitted against fighter radars, it has a higher chance of staying undetected by hovering above ground clutter rather than flying over open terrain:

RCS

The Blackfoot has a radar cross-section rating of 0.7, which lowers the maximum detection range of active radars by 30%.

IR

The Blackfoot has reduced visibility on the infrared spectrum, and can only be detected at 80% of an infrared-based sensor's maximum range (factor of 0.8; reduction of 20%).

Visual

The Blackfoot does not apply any reductions to visual-based sensors, and can be tracked at full ranges.

Sensors

Capable of both reconnaissance and providing fire support, the Blackfoot utilises several types of sensors optimised for its role as an air-to-ground platform:

Active Radar

It has an active radar range of 5 km against aerial targets, and 4 km against ground targets. Azimuth coverage is set to 180 degrees, while elevation coverage is at 90 degrees.

Targets can be identified once they come within 3 km range. They can only be tracked if they are moving at speeds of 450 km/h or less.

Infrared Search and Track/Visual Sensor

IRST detection extends out to a maximum range of 3 km against aerial targets and 2 km against ground targets. Visual detection on the other hand, is limited to just 2 km for aerial targets and 1.5 km for ground targets.

Each sensor has an azimuth/elevation coverage of 46 and 34 degrees respectively. They have a minimum operating range of 500 m, and can recognise targets once they are 2 km out from the Blackfoot's position. Targets can only be tracked if they are moving at speeds of 252 km/h or less.

Both sensors are located in the Blackfoot's turret and have an elevation offset of 30 degrees. The sensors work independently of the Blackfoot's actual heading and will rotate according to where the gunner is aiming the gun's camera.

Radar Warning Receiver/Passive Radar

The RWR has a 360 degree detection radius and a target recognition range of 12 km.

Laser Spot Tracker

Laser markers and infrared strobes can be tracked within a range of 6 km. It has an acquisition cone of 180 degrees.

Trivia

• As stated in the Field Manual, the Blackfoot's origins are derived from the real-world "RAH-66 Comanche" prototype helicopter. Unlike the Blackfoot however, the Comanche was eventually cancelled by the U.S. Army in 2004 and it is highly unlikely that its development will ever be revived.
• Prior to the release of the Tanks DLC, the Blackfoot lacked the ability to use a laser designator unlike its real-world counterpart. The DLC's release finally gave the gunner the ability to use a laser designator (slaved to the turret) to mark targets for laser-guided munitions.

Gallery

The interior of the Blackfoot's cockpit.

Add a photo to this gallery

External links

• Wikipedia: Boeing-Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche

See also

Aircraft of comparable role and configuration

• Mi-48 Kajman (CSAT counterpart)
• AH-1Z (U.S. Army/USMC predecessor, ArmA: Armed Assault/ArmA 2 only)