The Bell AH-1 SuperCobra is an attack helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It is a twin-engine helicopter derived from the single-engine AH-1 Cobra of the United States Army. Its primary users are the United States Marine Corps, the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, the Republic of China Army, and the Turkish Army.
During the mid-1960s, the AH-1 Cobra began to develop as a temporary gunship helicopter for the United States Army to be used in the Second Indochina War. In June 1967, the delivery of the first AH-1G HueyCobras took place.
From 1967 to 1973, the manufacturing company Bell Helicopter built 1,116 AH-1G helicopters intended for the United States Army. The helicopter completed more than a million operating hours in Vietnam. The AH-1G Cobra gained interest from the United States Marine Corps, however, the USMC favored a twin-engine helicopter for enhanced security and protection in operations over waters, and as well as a more powerful weapon mounted in the turret.
Initially, the Department of Defense hesitantly provided the twin-engine variant of the helicopter to the USMC in the notion that similarity with AH-1G helicopters of the Army exceeded the edge of a dissimilar engine configuration. But in May 1968, the USMC succeeded and signed a contract with Bell Helicopters to produce forty-nine AH-1J SeaCobras equipped with twin-engines. In 1969, the United States Army deployed thirty-eight AH-1Gs to the United States Marine Corps.
The AH-1J SeaCobra can accommodate two crew members. It has an exterior length of 17.7 meters, an exterior height of 4.11 meters, a tail height of 4.44 meters, and a fuselage diameter of 2.2 meters. It has a main rotor diameter of 13.4 meters and a main rotor area of 140.75 square meters. It has a blade section of Wortmann FX 69-H-098.
The twin-engine helicopter is powered by General Electric T700-GE-401 turboshaft engines which produces a maximum thrust of 1,690 horsepower. The helicopter has a maximum cruise speed of 190 knots and a travel range of 317 nautical miles. It can fly up to 15,000 feet and can climb up to a rate of 1,614 feet per minute. The maximum takeoff and landing weights are both 6,690 kg, and the maximum payload is 2,065 kg. The fuel capacity is 460 gallons.
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