Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior

The U.S. Army’s primary scout helicopter due to its maneuverability and small size, the Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior armed reconnaissance helicopter has served the U.S.’s national interests in missions all over the world. The U.S. Army maintains a fleet of 338 active-duty Kiowa Warriors, while the National Guard has a fleet of 30 helicopters. Designed to have an extremely small noise signature compared to other airframes, the Kiowa Warrior is designed to not be seen.

The first Army helicopter to be produced with an entirely glass cockpit, the Kiowa Warrior is equipped with a multitude of Sperry Flight Systems components including a multiple target tracking/moving target indicator, an ANVIS (aviation night-vision system) display symbology system, and helmet-mounted display. The cockpit is embedded with a video recorder that plays back television and thermal imagery for the pilots’ viewing.

For weaponry, the Kiowa Warrior is equipped with two universal quick-change weapons pylons armed with two Lockheed Martin Hellfire missiles, seven General Dynamics Hydra 70 rockets, two Raytheon air-to-air Stinger missiles, and one .50-caliber fixed forward machine gun. In 2010, Lockheed Martin successfully tested its DAGR guided rockets on the OH-58D platform. The Kiowa Warrior’s onboard computer can hone in on targets as far as 10 miles away and performs laser ranging.

The Kiowa Warrior’s countermeasures suite consists of a BAE Systems AN/ALQ-144 always-on infrared jammer, which provides protection against enemy infrared missiles over a wide environmental range. Radar warning receivers help the OH-58D’s crew evade pulsed and continuous wave radars.

The OH-58D Kiowa Warrior is known for its distinctive, Boeing-produced, mast-mounted sight (MMS). Positioned right above the rotor blades, the MMS contains a suite of sensors that allow the helicopter to operate during both day and night missions, and to engage the enemy at the fullest range the weapon systems allow for while minimally exposing the Kiowa Warrior to harm’s way. The MMS suite consists of a high-resolution television camera for long-range target detection, a thermal imaging sensor for navigation, a laser rangefinder for guidance of the Hellfire missiles and the Copperhead artillery rounds, and a boresight assembly for in-flight sensor alignment.