MoarDakka

That's another oddity, seems like some of that in the mix would be useful considering the sort of wars the AH-64 has been used in the past two decades.

I could have sworn the manufacture offers a TP-T with the same ballistics as the HEDP. Maybe the US Army doesn't use it though. You're right about the standard HEDP of course but it's a decision I don't understand their rationale for considering that the 20mm on the Cobra had tracer ammo.

Your reason because they don't commonly have that ammo in real life I assume? As far as I know there is a target practice round with tracer but not the regular HEDP. Which seems an odd decision on behalf of the Army when the 20mm on the Cobra used to have tracer in the belt mix.

Should it look more "blurred" than pixelated as it comes across now? Maybe it's a hard effect to replicate? Steel Beasts PRO PE seemed to do it okay.

You are probably correct that I am underestimating how much weight it adds up to, but I still find it a surprising choice after the Vietnam experience and knowledge of Soviet helicopter design. The AH-1 Cobra prototype had armored glass that was deemed to be too heavy but the AH-64 would have had a lot more excess power to work with when first introduced. Of course by that time the main threat was going to be an armored regiment's supporting Shilkas and SAMs and not infantry small arms. I've no experience trying to engage helicopters with small arms either so I'd wager I am also underestimating how difficult a target they are to hit.

I haven't read the second book but there are a handful of things in the first that left me wondering "who told him this?" The biggest one being a claim that the angular nature of the AH-64 was because it included some shaping to reduce radar cross section. I don't think that was even considered as feasible back in the AAH program days.

This is pretty surprising. Maybe the flares they use now are a lot more sophisticated than older ones? I know the ALQ-144 is a pretty old system now but I would have expected them to be using improved versions of that until a new IR jammer was introduced. Of course detecting a missile launch is a huge part in being able to defeat it so I'm sure the birds with CMWS are a lot better off than the older ones. I know DIRCM is a big ticket item for a lot of larger aircraft but sooner or later it's going to make its way to smaller ones including helicopters. From what I gather that's going to be the only reliable way to defeat the latest IIR guided missiles.

I'd have to assume that new IR jammers have replaced the old "disco ball" that used to be behind the rotor hub, I don't know where these jammers are however.

As far as I know JAGM is pretty much now just an AGM-114R with the new dual mode seeker. It's not that impressive compared to earlier plans. Brimstone 2 looks more capable due to the better rocket motor it has (greater range).

I think I got the attachment to work. This is a few years old so I don't know how it much relates to the current XM1211 but it shows it was something they were looking at. I don't expect any of this to appear in the DCS module it's just interesting in the context of the future of the AH-64.

It's pretty neat to see some of the upgrades they've made to the AH-64D over the years. All sorts of new missile warning sensors have appeared. Looks like there is an IR laser attached to the M230 chain gun now, I'm guessing to help confirm targets in CAS situations. The exhaust IR signature suppressors are angled upwards now, probably a good thing when they're are no enemy fighters to worry about. The "disco ball" IR jammer seems to have gone too.

Maybe it was de-rated at some point for reliability reasons? Yes the advertisements and publications can definitely get stuff wrong. Janes and a few others listed the muzzle velocity of the XM1211 as 1,105 m/s which even accounting for the longer barrel of the M230LF seems impossible. I think they got it mixed up with the muzzle velocity for the one for the 30x173mm airburst cartridge. I guess time will tell if they plan on integrating the XM1211 or any other new 30mm ammo types on the AH-64. Seems like it could be pretty devastating if the fire control system could be made to accommodate it.

I'm rather surprised by this. I would have thought crew casualties would have been higher over the years if that was not the case. The famous case of the CPG hit in the throat seemed to be hit by a projectile that went through one of the side panels for example. I'm not doubting you but it seems unusual there are no public images of ballistic damage to those front panels. The front-facing glass panels on the A129 Mangusta are supposedly armored but they don't look any thicker than those panels on the Apache. It seems like it would be a good thing to have for a relatively small weight penalty.

I've seen press releases for the XM1211 that specified both the M230 and the M230LW (which is the current ground based variant) and older Powerpoint slides for the LW30mm Airburst program that specifically mentions usage on the Apache. Right now the interest seems to be fielding it for the M230LF on that new Stryker air defense variant but it seems there is/was interest in using it on the Apache as well. The older M799 was definitely intended for the M230, from what I can tell it looks like the Army preferred to procure just the M789 instead. I tried to attach a slide from one of those Powerpoints but I can't seem to make it work for some reason. Maybe because I'm still too new here.

A lot of older publications I've seen referred to a 30x113mm M799 HEI shell but maybe it never saw mainstream service with the Army because it's hardly mentioned these days. I doubt it will appear in DCS but there has been recent work on a 30x113mm airburst shell for use by the M230 and M230LF. Right now it has the designation XM1211 HEP (high explosive proximity). Orbital-ATK was testing a 30x113mm HEI-T shell a few years ago but I don't know if it has seen any more widespread use. I do wonder why the US Army never specified an ammo mix that included tracer for the AH-64. It seems like tracers would be beneficial in some scenarios especially when the Army took more of an interest in helicopter vs helicopter combat in the late '80s.