Bell UH-1 Iroquois

El Salvador

During its civil war El Salvador received about 80 UH-1H and 24 UH-1M from the US, as part of the aid to fight the guerrillas between 1979 and 1992.

These helicopters were heavily engaged in combat, supporting the army in fighting guerrillas throughout the country.

As a result many were shot down.

After the war only 20 UH-1H and 14 UH-1M survived, most of them scrapped a few years later.

These helicopters were operated by El Salvador Air Force, being at its time the biggest and most experienced combat helicopter force in Central and South America, fighting during 10 years and being trained by US Army in tactics developed during the Vietnam War.

Gunship UH-1M helicopters used by El Salvador were modified to carry bombs instead of rocket pods.

UH-1Hs were also used as improvised bombers.

Nahr el Bared battle in Lebanon

During the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] camp in North Lebanon, the Lebanese army, lacking fixed-wing aircraft, modified the UH-1H allowing it to carry 500 lb (227 kg) [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] to strike militant positions.

Each Huey was equipped on each side with special mounts engineered by the Lebanese army, to carry the high explosive bombs.

Argentina

Nine [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] UH-1Hs and two [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] were included with the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] during the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] ([Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: Guerra de las Malvinas).

They performed general transport and SAR missions and were based at Port Stanley (BAM Puerto Argentino).

Two of the Hueys were destroyed and, after the hostilities had ended, the balance were captured by the British.
At least three of the aircraft were reused by the British ferrying supplies and troops but had to be painted with a distinct color to avoid misidentifications, until they were grounded.

656 Sqn, AAC and 820 NAS operated these captured UH-1s.

The captured UH-1H AE-409 is now in the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]. UH-1H AE-422 is in the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

One of these UH-1Hs was civil registered as G-HUEY in the UK and participated in a number of airshows and in the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] movie "[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]" (1987) as medevac.

Israel

The Israeli Air Force was another prominent operator of the UH-1, using it for over thirty years in various different conflicts against both the armies of Arab countries and Palestinian militants.

Israel's first Hueys were UH-1Ds, delivered from the United States in October 1968 under arms shipments via the administration of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Israel also acquired Italian UH-1s made by Augusta under license. In total, Israel acquired 64 UH-1s of different models.

The UH-1s were used throughout the 1970s and 1980s, first seeing action against Egypt during the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

During the Yom Kippur War, UH-1s assisted in the transport of Israeli ground troops throughout the Sinai and Golan Heights against both Egyptian and Syrian troops.

In an act of desperation, they were also used with other helicopters to spot Egyptian and Syrian surface to air
missile batteries for fighter aircraft, a process that was quickly discontinued and never used again.

Israeli UH-1s would go on to see their final combat in Lebanon, delivering Israeli troops and supplies in the fight against the PLO, Syria, and later Hezbollah.
Israel withdrew its UH-1s from service in 2002, after thirty three years of service. They were replaced by Sikorsky [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] helicopters given to Israel after complying with the United States and Britain for not retaliating against Iraqi Scud missile attacks.

While some were passed on to pro-Israeli militias in Lebanon, eleven other UH-1Ds were reportedly sold to a Singapore based logging company but were, instead, delivered in October 1978 to the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] to skirt the UN endorsed embargo imposed during the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Operation Enduring Freedom (2001-present)

UH-1Hs have been used by the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in counter-narcotics raids in the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan.

Operated by contractors, these Hueys provide transportation, surveillance, and air support for DEA FAST teams.

Four UH-1Hs and two Mi-17s were used in a raid in July 2009 which led to the arrest of an Afghan Border Police commander.

Variants

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The following is an extensive catalog of the variants and specific unique elements of each variant and/or design stage of the UH-1 Iroquois transport helicopter.


XH-40 and YH-40

The first Bell helicopter to use a turbine engine was a modified [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (designated [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]), which had its initial flight in October 1954.

The U.S. Army began a competition for a new helicopter for general utility and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in 1955.

In June 1955, Bell Helicopter was awarded a contract to develop the next generation turbine-powered [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]
for the U.S. Army.

The resulting Bell Model 204 was designated XH-40 by the U.S. military and first flew on 22 October 1956.

Two more prototypes were built in 1957, and six YH-40 pre-production helicopters were delivered in 1958.

The YH-40's cabin was lengthened by12 in (30 cm), and had more ground clearance compared to the XH-40.
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Bell believed the YH-40 was ideal for troop transport and cargo carrying as well as the medevac role, a view soon adopted by the Army, who found the pre-production aircraft so much better in service than previous piston-powered helicopters they soon ordered more.

XH-40

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UH-1A

The HU-1A (later redesignated the UH-1A) was the first turbine-equipped U.S. helicopter to go into production, and production models first entered service with the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and the 57th Medical Detachment.

Although they were intended for evaluation only, the Army quickly pressed them into operational service and Hueys with the 57th Medical Detachment arrived in Vietnam in March 1962.
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The helicopter was originally designated the HU-1A, which is where it received its nickname - "Huey."

The official U.S. Army designation Iroquois (Army helicopters are traditionally given Native American names) was almost never used in practice.
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Fourteen of the original order of UH-1As were designated as TH-1A which were used for crew training and a single aircraft was redesignated XH-1A for grenade launcher testing in 1960.^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}

The first UH-1As to arrive in Vietnam after the 57th Medical Detachment were with a new test unit, the US Army's Utility Tactical Transport Company (UTTCO). UTTCO had 20 "Alpha" Hueys and deployed to Vietnam in the fall of 1962.

These aircraft were used as armed escorts to the existing [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] troop carriers.
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In use the UH-1A proved under-powered with their Lycoming T53-L-1 powerplants of just 860 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and indicated the need for improved follow-on models of the Huey.[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]