November 30, 2005 at 8:54 am
With the trend today being upgrading existing aircraft instead of buying or developing new ones, I was wondering if it was possible to update the AH-1S by adding two GE 401 or 701C engines, four bladed main and tail rotors, new transmission and drive shaft, glass cockpit, and new avionics that will enable it to fly day/night missions and fire the Hellfire missile.
The AH-1S is not high-tech compared to the Apache or the Tiger, but it is a cost-effective, reliable, and lethal attack helicopter. New engines, avionics, and weapons will certainly give it more capability and lethality.
Not only that there are a lot of them in service and some might decide to upgrade it instead of throwing it away.
Don’t know if it will become a reality but if it does it will be interesting to see how it turns out.