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Marine Corps Vipers and Venoms to Get New Comms System in 2023

In the air since the early 2000s, the AH-1Z Viper and UH-1Y Venom have established themselves as very reliable weapons platforms for the needs of the U.S. Marine Corps. As is often the case with military hardware, improvements have to constantly be made, and in the case of the two helos, the focus falls presently on their communications systems.
AH-1Z Viper and UH-1Y Venom 34 photos
Photo: USMC
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Exactly one year ago, the American military announced the Viper and Venom would be getting a new two-way comms system to help them establish a link between a ground station and its networking systems - called Link 16 and Advanced Networking Wideband Waveform (ANW2).

In June 2021, the U.S. Navy’s Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 21 conducted a successful test of the Viper. Then, in November, a battle scenario was played out, with the aircraft successfully inserting ground troops and communicating over the ANW2 network.

This month, the Marine Corps announced that during the November exercise the same Test and Evaluation Squadron managed to establish a link between both Viper and Venom and a portable ground station for the first time.

“The ground troops were able to receive information from the aircraft on their tablets,” said Marine Corps Maj. Jason Grimes. “This event validated the ability to insert troops in an objective area, immediately connect to their radio and provide constant communication.”

According to the military branch, testing of the ANW2 network will continue throughout 2022. Integration within the Viper and Venom helicopter fleet is expected sometime next year.

The AH-1Z Viper is an attack helicopter run by a crew of two. Equipped with anti-armor and air-to-air missiles, it can fly for as much as 357 miles (575 km) at speeds of up to 230 mph (370 kph).

The UH-1Y Venom is mostly a utility helicopter and adds on top of the capabilities of the Viper the option to conduct search and rescue or command and control operations.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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