MH-9 Hummingbird

Hummingbird
Faction	NATO
Type	Light Helicopter
Seats	8 seats: 1× Pilot 1× Co-Pilot 6× Passengers
Item capacity	Max: 1000 mass 12× Weapons 48× Magazines 24× Backpacks
Top speed	~ 240 km/h
Service ceiling	~ 4,000 m
Fuel capacity	242 L
Primary armament	None
Secondary armament	None
Variants	AH-9 Pawnee, M900
Games

The MH-9 Hummingbird is a light observation and transport helicopter used by NATO forces in ArmA 3.

Overview

• Roles:
  • Troop transport
  • Observation

Design

The Hummingbird is a five-bladed, single engine, rotary-wing light helicopter designed for both observation and light transport roles.

Features
Although it isn't designed to be a stealth helicopter, its small size makes it difficult to spot with the naked eye and on radar as well, particularly when flying low with plenty of ground clutter.

Its rotors also operate very silently, further compounding the difficulty of hearing a Hummingbird fly in except from at close ranges.

Mobility
It has the best aerial maneuverability out of all the helicopters currently available in ArmA 3. And in contrast to its larger CSAT and AAF counterparts, its small size makes it ideal for quick insertions or extractions at almost any kind of landing zone, whether it be a small building rooftop, a forest clearing, or in a narrow urban street.

Drawbacks
All of this excellent mobility comes at a cost of protection however, as the Hummingbird (along with its attack and civilian variants) relies exclusively on its high speed and agility to avoid taking any damage at all.

This is due to the airframe lacking any sort of armour plating or doors. Many components, such as the flight instruments or cockpit itself, are left completely exposed to enemy fire because of this setup.

Even the pilots themselves are only covered from the front by a thin plexiglass bubble canopy, which can easily be penetrated from a few rounds of small arms fire. It also lacks defensive avionics like an RWR, and is therefore helpless against any anti-aircraft weapon systems that manage to lock-on to it via radar.

In addition, the Hummingbird doesn't possess any armament due to the side benches taking up the space, preventing it from being able to mount stub wings. Though passengers riding on the side benches can still fire their weapons in self-defence, they too are vulnerable and can easily be shot out of the sky if the helicopter is left exposed to enemy fire for too long.

Crew Capacity
The Hummingbird has a seating capacity of eight personnel including the crew that consists of the pilot and co-pilot.

Stealth

Due to its small size, the Hummingbird is semi-stealthed in all aspects, from both active radars, infrared sensors, and visual sensors. Against fighter radars, it can remain completely undetected by flying over ground clutter instead of remaining above open terrain:

RCS

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

IR

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

Visual

The Hummingbird is much more difficult to spot visually and cannot be identified by visual-based sensors until it flies within 80% of the sensor's maximum range (factor of 0.8; a 20% reduction).

Slingloading

The Hummingbird is able to slingload some small vehicles, though because it has a maximum weight capacity of 500 kg this largely limits it to carrying:

It can also transport equipment in the form of:

• Supply boxes

Overall, this makes it generally useless as an airlift vehicle since it cannot carry any useful ground vehicles or the larger crates.

Trivia

• The airframe is based on the real-life "MD-500" series of light helicopters. However, both the Hummingbird's roles and capabilities closely resemble that of the real-world "MH-6 Little Bird"; both of which are designed by MD Helicopters, Inc.

Gallery

Promotional screenshot released during the pre-Alpha. The NATO infantryman in the foreground is armed with a Bulldog shotgun, and is seen dismounting from an MH-9 at the Altis International Airport.

Add a photo to this gallery

External links

• Wikipedia: MD Helicopters MD 500
• Wikipedia: MD Helicopters MH-6 Little Bird

See also

Variants

• AH-9 Pawnee
• M900 (Unarmed civilian/Syndikat variant, ArmA 3: Helicopters/ArmA 3: Apex only)

Aircraft of comparable role and configuration

• PO-30 Orca (CSAT counterpart)
• WY-55 Hellcat (AAF counterpart)
• MH-6J Little Bird (U.S. Army predecessor, ArmA 2: OA only)