Bristling with a fearsome armoury of weapons, this is the latest scourge of Britain's enemies.

The £26million Wildcat combat helicopter, unveiled today, will be deployed to crush Taliban fighters, pirates, drug-smugglers and terrorists.



The state-of-the-art multi-role chopper - so powerful it can blow a submarine out of the water - will play a vital role in military operations for the Army and Royal Navy from 2014.

The sophisticated aircraft's primary task will be to protect soldiers on the battlefield and the Royal Navy's fleet around the world.

But it is designed to carry out a raft of other missions including cargo transport, casualty evacuation, troop carrying, surveillance, and search and rescue.

It was being displayed for the first time for Defence Secretary Philip Hammond at the Farnborough International Air Show this morning.

He was joined at the display by the head of the Army General Sir Peter Wall and Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, the First Sea Lord.


The fuselage is protected with a composite material similar to that used for soldiers' body armour so it is difficult to pierce by enemies firing weapons from the ground

Mr Hammond said: 'This new fleet of Wildcat helicopters will provide a fantastic capability for our Armed Forces - on land and at sea.'

He added: 'Wildcat represents a considerable advance over the current Lynx helicopters, bringing greatly improved performance and capability.

'The contract to provide training and support will keep them flying wherever they are needed.

'These helicopters will be a key part of the future equipment programme for the Armed Forces that will see £160billion spent over the next ten years.

'By balancing the budget, we can deliver the airframes and the millions of pounds of support they require.'


The new military hardware was displayed for the first time for Defence Secretary Philip Hammond (seen in the chopper) at the Farnborough International Air Show in Hampshire this morning

Wildcat will replace the current trusted Lynx fleet, which has served the Fleet Air Arm loyally since the mid-70s.

It has more powerful engines so it operates well in extreme 'high and hot' conditions such as in Afghanistan, where the air is thinner and dustier.

The fuselage is protected with a composite material similar to that used for soldiers' body armour so it is difficult to pierce by enemies firing weapons from the ground.

The Wildcat can carry forward-firing rockets, machine guns, door-mounted mounted machine guns, an air-to-surface system and can deploy torpedoes and depth charges.

The twin-engine helicopter is also kitted out with state-of-the-art radar to search for enemy ships and vehicles, penetrating sonar to hunt for subs and electronic surveillance measures such as 360-degree infrared imaging cameras.

Manned by two crew members and carrying up to seven passengers, the helicopter is also able to fend off missile attacks with a sophisticated self-defence suite.

The glass cockpit will allow the pilots to read information from computer screens rather than old dials and instruments.

The full £1.6billion order includes 62 new helicopters: 34 Army Wildcat from 2014 and 28 Royal Navy Wildcat from 2015, which will fly from the decks of frigates and destroyers.

Sir Mark Stanhope said: 'Wildcat represents the latest generation of multi-role helicopter that has been specifically procured to operate from ships of the Royal Navy.

'With state-of-the-art sensors, equipment and weapons, it will be an outstanding asset that will maintain Royal Naval units at the cutting edge of worldwide maritime operations.'


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I'm sure it's quite capable but it's not terribly attractive. I mean it looks like the FLIR was an after-thought that got tacked onto the nose after the airframe design was finalized.

   

The only question I have is what makes this so much different than other gunships deployed to "crush Taliban" fighters??

   

It's British... of course it's ugly.

   

You'd almost think they could have found some Italian to design the outside. At least it would have looked the price.

   

Now all we need are enough pilots to fly them, that is if the government doesn't make them redundant.

   

   

This. What happened to the glory days of the Spitfire and the Tribal class?

Modern designers have taken a page out of contemporary ugly for their designs.

Hell, the French have nicer looking platforms.

   

Indeed, they do.

   

ummmmmm.....no.

   

Yeah, you're a ruminantphile...

   

Its a revamped Lynx. The Lynx isn't a bad airframe but it's been around for 30 years. I suppose the MOD needs to keep pumping money into the SW of England.