The helicopter has been a very versatile machine since its beginning when on September 14, 1939, the VS-300 helicopter prototype developed by Igor Sikorsky and built by the Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft Division of the United Aircraft Corporation completed its first test flight. Since then the helicopter has seen amazing improvements and has many applications for its use. But when it comes to the battlefield, the attack helicopter is one of the most feared weapons in modern warfare. Join us as we take a look at 10 Most Insane and Powerful Attack Helicopters.


10. Mi-24P- The Mi-24P attack/transport helicopter is manufactured by the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant, based in Moscow, Russia, and earlier variants were called the flying tank by Russian pilots and for good reason. The helicopter has six suspension weapon units on the wingtips and is equipped with a YakB four-barreled, 12.7mm, built-in, flexibly mounted machine gun, which has a firing rate of 4,000-4,500 rounds a minute and a muzzle velocity of 860 meters per second.

9. A-129/T-129 - The TAI/AgustaWestland T129 ATAK is a twin-engine, tandem seat, multi-role, all-weather attack helicopter based on the Agusta A129 Mangusta platform. The T129 was developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries, with partner AgustaWestland. Technical specifications of the T-129 include a take-off weight of 11,023lbs with a fuselage running length of 41 feet, an overall height of 11.2 feet and a rotor diameter of 39 feet. Performance comes from a pair of turboshaft engines generating 1,360 shaft horsepower each.

8. Bell AH-1Z Viper - The Bell AH-1Z Viper is an American twin-engine attack helicopter, based on the AH-1W SuperCobra, that was developed for the United States Marine Corps. The Viper is a modern version of the first ever attack helicopter, the AH-1 Cobra. The AH-1Z Viper variant is powered by two General Electric turboshaft engines and has a composite 4-bladed main rotor, instead of the previous 2-bladed rotor which reduced vibrations by 70 percent.

7. Eurocopter Tiger – The Tiger is a four-bladed, twin-engine attack helicopter which first entered service in 2003. It is a relatively new attack helicopter initially designed and developed through a joint venture between the governments of France and Germany.

6. MI-28H Havoc - is a Russian all-weather, day-night, military tandem, two-seat anti-armor attack helicopter. It is an attack helicopter with no intended secondary transport capability, better optimized than the Mil Mi-24 gunship for the role. It carries a single gun in an under-nose barbette, plus external loads carried on pylons beneath stub wings.

5. Kamov KA-52 - Ka-52 Alligator is an all-weather attack helicopter operated by the Russian Air Force. Developed by Kamov Design Bureau, the Ka-52 is a twin-seat variant of the Ka-50 attack helicopter. The Ka-52 helicopter can destroy enemy armored and unarmored ground targets, low-speed aerial targets and personnel at the frontline and in tactical depth.

4. Agusta A129 Mangusta - The Agusta A129 "Mangusta" ("Mongoose") is a modern Italian-designed and developed, two-seat, twin-engined battlefield helicopter developed specifically for the anti-armor/attack role. In the A129, seating for the two crew follows well-accepted attack helicopter doctrine which sees the weapons officer seated in the forward cockpit and the pilot in the raised, second offering at the rear. Windscreens are glazed to minimize glint with the side panels ejecting during crash/emergency landings.

2. South African Denel AH-2 - The Denel AH-2 Rooivalk was an ambitious and indigenous undertaking by the nation of South Africa. At the time of its development, the Rooivalk was heralded as one of the top performing and capable attack helicopters in existence and was destined to become one of the best attack helicopters ever made.

1. AH-64D Apache Longbow - The AH-64 Apache is the world’s most advanced multi-role combat helicopter and is used by the U.S. Boeing delivered the first U.S. Army Apache AH-64A in January 1984. Since then, the U.S. Army and other nations have received more than 2,200 AH-64 Apache attack helicopters. The AH-64 Apache has a four-blade main rotor and a four-blade tail rotor.