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The History of U.S. Navy Helicopters

In addition to a massive fleet of carriers, destroyers and submarines that make the U.S. Navy one of the world's most well-equipped armed forces, the Navy makes regular use of its aviation division, made up of various models of fighter jets and helicopters. Since the advent and refinement of helicopter technology, from combat to recon, the Navy has used these aircraft for a variety of purposes throughout its history.

Anti-Submarine Squads
- Multiple models of helicopters have been employed by the Navy since the very first HS series in 1956. The HS's were used to seek out and deploy anti-submarine depth charges while airborne over enemy positions. These helicopters were also used to relay submarine activity to naval destroyers in the vicinity. The HS series was upgraded in the 1970s to the HS series Archangel and Red Lion models, which were used until the creation of the Airwolves, Proud Warriors and Viper series in the 1980s. The current incarnation (as of 2010) is the HS-Saberhawk.
Combat Support
- Combat support helicopters like the HC-1s and 2s saw limited duty at the end of World War II, later decommissioned to make way for HC 3 (Merlins), 5 (Providers) and 6 series, used extensively during campaigns of the Vietnam War. The role of combat support helicopters is to support efforts of ground units in engineering or communications. Many of the longstanding models were decommissioned in 2005, leading to the use of Sea Combat models to perform many of the combat support duties.
Sea Combat
- Foreign and domestic waters are the Navy's territory, so helicopters like the HSC 25 and 26, the Island Knights and Chargers, came about in 2005 for use in the global War Against Terror, replacing the Combat Support models. The heavily armed aircraft directly engage enemy watercraft or enemy coastal positions as well as carry Navy SEAL teams to insertion points behind enemy lines.
Attack
- Similar to the HSCs, the HAL series Seawolves and Red Wolves engage the enemy, carry SEAL teams or related personnel and can be used for search and rescue operations on the open sea. Lighter and not as heavily armed as the their Sea Combat brethren, the 'Wolves have seen significant upgrades in the years since their introduction in 1967 and 1976, respectively. Production of the Seawolves was halted in 1972. Developed in 1986, the HH-60H series of rescue helicopters, the Rescue Hawks, are offshoots of the HSC series and are used exclusively for open water rescues in non-combat environments.
Training
- As their name implies, Navy helicopters like 1950's HTU-1 are used for pilot training. The HTU-1 was shelved 10 years later in favor of the HT-8 Eightballer; a few years later the Vigilant Eagles were introduced. In 2007, the HT-28 Hellions came into being. Currently (as of 2010), none of the models have been decommissioned and are still piloted in training scenarios.

Aviation