Army Attack Aviation Returning to the Close Fight

This paper seeks to answer the question of whether or not the modern threat environment should drive U.S. Army Attack Aviation to shift its focus from the deep fight to the close battle. The paper concludes that the modern threat of asymmetric warfare in urban environments should drive training, doctrine, and aircraft and weapons development to optimize readiness for close air support of ground forces in Military Operations on Urban Terrain (MOUT). This conclusion is based an historic review of the evolution of U.S. attack helicopters and their employment, an analysis of the modern threat environment which indicates a strong likelihood of fighting in urban environments, a review of existing aviation doctrine for MOUT, and a review of two recent MOUT case studies, Chechnya and Somalia. These two case studies demonstrate that the most effective method of employing attack helicopters in MOUT is as a fire support element in the close fight. This paper argues in closing that U.S. Army Aviation must move quickly to develop clear and effective doctrine and training methods for employing attack helicopters in the close fight. Furthermore, the U.S. Army must develop future aircraft, weapons systems, and munitions to optimize close air support effectiveness and aircraft survivability.