U.S. Army Black Hawk and Apache Helicopters Put on a Big Show at Airfield, Air Trembles

The video at the bottom of this text is one of those rare instances when a large number of helicopters congregate in the air and on the ground. The clip was shot at an undisclosed time, showing the trembling skies over the Illesheim Army Airfield in Germany. There are too breeds of helicopters in the air, namely Black Hawks and Apaches.

Introduced in the late 1970s, the Black Hawk needs little introduction. The four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift machine is not only one of the most well-known helicopters currently in use, but one of the most diverse when it comes to the missions it can perform.

Powered by a pair of General Electric turboshaft engines, the Sikorsky machine comes in a wide range of variants, and is able to fulfill a variety of roles, ranging from lifting and special operations to armed combat or search and rescue.

The Apache on the other hand, made by Boeing from about the same time as the Black Hawk, has been specifically designed with attack goals in mind. It too packs two turboshaft engines of the same make, capable of developing 1,690 shp each, but packs a hell of a lot more weapons than what the Sikorsky machine can carry.

The list of deadly weapons it carries include 16 Hellfire missiles, 76 2.75-inch rockets, and 1,200 30 mm chain gun rounds.

You can see both these killer machines in action in the video below, released at the end of July by Military in Action.