Army - The Soldiers' Newspaper

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Tiger shows its litheness and why it was the top contender to fill Australia's ARH needs

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MTR 390

Two MTR 390 engines
Two x 958 kW (1285 Hp)
Full Authority Digital Engine Control
Average fuel flow for sortie at 30C: 490 litres an hour total

Giat M781 30mm

Slaved to gunner's helmet or roof-mounted sight
Aiming: -23, +38, +/- 90 degrees of target centreline
Four 90 round bins, 90 in the feed chute
Rate of fire: 750 rounds per minute
Range: Air to Air - 100m-1500m
Air to Ground - 1500m, suppress to 4000m
Penetration: About 15mm of armour at 800m

AGM114M Hellfire 2

SAL Air to Ground Missile
Advanced fragmentation warhead (incendiary pellets)
Up to eight missiles carried
Range: 1000m-8000m
Third party designation

70mm Rockets

Load: Seven rocket Pod, 19 rocket Pod
Range: 800m to 5000+m
Rocket types: FZ71 HEGP
FZ181 Flash Warhead
FZ120 Mod 1 inert warhead
Future Acquisition: Flechette
Sub-munition
APKWS
Five rocket types can be loaded simultaneously

Roof-mounted STRIX sight

Gyrostabilised platform fitted with:

Thermal camera
CCD TV camera
Laser range finder

Tiger teeth - Taming the big cat
The first Australian Tiger ARH rolled off the production line and went through an initial test flight in France recently. With a total of 22 Tigers to be prowling through Australian skies by 2008, there's never been a better time to have a look at the new aircraft and what it's capable of

By Pte John Wellfare
All this technology will require highly skilled pilots who can perform in ways never-before asked of Australian Army aviators.

Army Helicopter School Chief Instructor Lt-Col Greg Lawler says the transition from Kiowa to Tiger will be a step up for Army pilots.

"[The Tiger] is definitely the most complex helicopter and possibly the most complex weapon system that's ever been introduced into the Army," he says.

"The training has been constructed to enable us to take pilots off Kiowa and turn them into a Tiger pilot, but we have ensured that the complex nature of the training is addressed.

"It's the situational awareness of the battlefield, there's a significant amount of systems delivering information to the crew that Army aviation have never dealt with before.

"It comes down to being able to manage the aircraft, manage its systems, manage the weapons, manage the crew and when you put all of that together it comes down to situational awareness of the battle-space and that's the complex issue."

The new aircraft provides an entirely new capability for the Army and requires its own procedures, which have already been developed and are currently being evaluated. It's expected that testing, performed in the synthetic systems at DSTO, will provide a solid starting block from which the Tiger can take off.

"Army's understanding of the aircraft will grow over its initial years of employment and the strengths and limitations of the aircraft will be identified and the doctrine will be adjusted accordingly.

"The Tiger pilot that we put out on day-one - we're putting so much effort into this training - they're going to be pretty close to the mark."

But the pilots aren't the only ones who need to be trained - commanders of combat and support units who will find themselves working with the Tiger also need to know what the new helicopter can do and how they can get the most out of this new capability.

"Training Command is developing a one-day course, which is to focus the mind of the commander on this weapon system and what it can achieve in the battle-space for them," he said.

"Basically it's showing the strengths of the aircraft - this aircraft has significant strengths - but we need to show them where these significant strengths are."

By Pte John Wellfare
When the ARH settles into 1 Bde, where the combat team concept is as strong as any individual unit ethos, commanders will have to learn to use the new helicopter to its full potential alongside tanks, LAVs, artillery, APCs and troops.

As far as SO1 Ops, Aviation Capability Development Group, Lt-Col Grant Iddon is concerned, the Tiger has to become a natural element of 1 Bde's fighting and reconnaissance power.

"When we're co-located [at Robertson Barracks], working regularly side by side with the 1 Bde team, combined arms integration will be one of our primary objectives.

"It's partially an education process, and from what I have seen everyone's keen to make this work."

As the first Australian ARH rolled off the production line, US Army Aviation chiefs announced they would be recommending disbanding their Comanche ARH program in the interest of diverting funds to other aviation projects. So, if the Americans don't need one, will our ARH be shunned on a coalition battlefield?

"What [the US Army] are missing is the middle ground of a composite reconnaissance/firepower helicopter.

"They've got this void in the middle now because they've got an OH-58, which is ancient and has limited effectiveness and they've got the very heavy Apache.

"We sit in the middle ground so if anything we bring a niche - a specialisation that they are not going to have."

There's little doubt the ARH will be a handy friend on the battlefield, whether it's providing the eyes or the firepower, you can look forward to seeing one hovering overhead soon.