What has cobra helicopter destroyed in combat?

Answer 1

The AH-1 Cobra Attack Helicopter was the United States Military's FIRST "Attack Helicopter" that was designed and built specifically for war; and was deployed directly into combat in Vietnam in 1966/67 (sources vary). The same company that developed the UH-1 Huey built the AH-1 Cobra, Bell. The Cobra fired a 7.62mm NATO cartridge (today's civilian .308 Winchester rifle cartridge) from a belly (under the nose) mounted mini-gun (electrically powered US Civil War designed multi-barreled GATLING GUN); and fired 2.75 inch rockets. The Cobra attacked and damaged numerous NVA PT-76 amphibious light tanks and NVA T54/55 medium tanks with it's 2.75" rockets, during Operation Lam Son 719 in 1971 (the US Army's last major offensive of the Vietnam War); which occurred in Laos on the South Vietnamese border, during the invasion of Laos that year. Although the Cobra was the first designed and deployed gunship (attack helicopter), it was the UH-1 Huey (Utility Helicopter) that actually was the first (modified into a...) successful attack helicopter, and it was the UH-1 that actually DESTROYED the first tanks in combat by the US Army's NEW MISSILE; the TOW Anti-Armor Missile(Tube Launched, Optically tracked, Wired Guided-TOW), during the NVA's "Spring Offensive" in 1972 (aka Easter Offensive). UH-1's equipped with TOW missiles destroyed 24 tanks during the NVA offensive in 1972. During the Vietnam War, nearly 12,000 US helicopters were deployed, and over 5,000 helicopters were destroyed, of that number, about 270 Cobra helicopters were destroyed. Cobra's flew over 1 million combat hours during the Vietnam War. Cobra's utilized by the US Military, primarily the US Marines after Vietnam, were up-graded into SUPER "Cobras" with extra engines and cannons to replace the machine gun gatling guns (mini-guns). The US Army transitioned from the Cobra into the current APACHE Attack Helicopter.