Helicopter - Royal Navy Westland Lynx HAS No. 740 - postcard

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  Westland Lynx HAS Mk 2 - Royal Navy (No. 740)
• Publisher:  Colourmaster International (A29)
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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The Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led to the development of both battlefield and naval variants. The Lynx went into operational usage in 1977 and was later adopted by the armed forces of over a dozen nations, primarily serving in the battlefield utility, anti-armour, search and rescue and anti-submarine warfare roles.

The Lynx has the distinction of being the world's first fully aerobatic helicopter with the ability to perform loops and rolls. In 1986, a specially modified Lynx set the current Fédération Aéronautique Internationale's official airspeed record for helicopters at 400.87 km/h,^[2] which remains unbroken as of 2016.^[3][4]

In addition to a wide number of land and naval variants of the Lynx, several major derivatives have been produced. The Westland 30 was produced as a civil utility helicopter, it did not become a commercial success, only a small number were built during the 1980s. In the 21st century, a modernised variant of the Lynx was designed as a multirole combat helicopter, designated as the AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat; the Wildcat is intended to replace existing Lynx helicopters. The Lynx remains in production by AgustaWestland, the successor to Westland Helicopters.

The Lynx AH.1 entered service with the Army Air Corps (AAC) in 1979, followed by the Lynx HAS.2 with the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) in 1981. The FAA fleet was upgraded to Lynx HAS.3 standard during the 1980s, and again to HMA.8 standard in the 1990s. Most Army aircraft were upgraded to Lynx AH.7 and the later AH.9/AH.9A standards as utility helicopters; they have also served with 3 Commando Brigade Air Squadron (3 CBAS) of the Royal Marines and later, the Commando Helicopter Force (CHF) of the FAA, operating as reconnaissance and attack/utility helicopters to support the Royal Marines. During the Cold War, it was envisioned that Army Lynxes would be paired with Westland Gazelle helicopters to counter Soviet armoured vehicles.^[49] Lynx HAS.3 and HMA.8 variants operate as anti-submarine warfare and maritime attack helicopters armed with Sting Ray torpedoes, Sea Skua anti-ship missiles and depth charges, from Royal Navy warships. Navy Lynx have been critical to maritime patrol operations, including non-military operations such as counter-narcotics missions.^[50][51]

The Lynx HAS.2 ASW variant participated in combat operations during the Falklands War in 1982. A combination of Lynx and Westland Sea King helicopters were used to maintain continuous anti-submarine patrols in order to protect the British task force offshore from the Falkland Islands. On 3 May, a Lynx conducted the first combat-firing of a Sea Skua missile, firing on the Argentinian patrol boat Alferez Sobral, inflicting considerable damage to the vessel. This was the first use of sea-skimming missiles in the conflict.^[52] Although none were shot down in combat, a total of three were lost aboard vessels that were struck by attacks from Argentine aircraft, these vessels being HMS Coventry, HMS Ardent and MV Atlantic Conveyor.^[53]

On 14 May 1989, in the type's second fatal accident, Lynx HAS3GM XZ244, attached to HMS Brilliant, crashed near Mombasa, Kenya, while en route to the city's airport for a period of shore leave. A door had detached when opened inflight and collided with the tail rotor, resulting in the aircraft splitting in half and the death of all nine personnel on board. As a result, door modifications and inflight opening restrictions were introduced. As of 2004, it remained the deadliest Lynx crash.^[25][54]

The Navy's Lynx helicopters were among Britain's contribution to the coalition against Saddam Hussain's Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War. During the Battle of Bubiyan, the biggest naval engagement of the conflict, the Lynx and its Sea Skua missiles proved to be decisive, being responsible for the majority of individual engagements with various Iraqi Navy vessels.^[55] By 2 February 1991, 25 Sea Skuas had been launched, out of these, 18 were confirmed as having hit their targets, and had succeeding in heavily damaging a significant portion of Iraq's navy.^[56][57] Navy Lynxes were routinely used to deploy troops to oil platforms and into occupied Kuwait itself, as well as to perform aerial reconnaissance across the Gulf.^[58]

The British Army also deployed 24, TOW-armed Lynxes alongside an equal number of Westland Gazelle helicopters during the Gulf War. They were assigned the mission of locating and attacking Iraqi tank concentrations, and to support the advance of coalition ground forces into Kuwait and Southern Iraq during the 100 hours war phase of the conflict. On 26 February 1991, a Lynx of 654 Squadron AAC destroyed two MTLB armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and four T-55 tanks using TOW missiles, the engagement was the first recorded use of the missile from a British helicopter.^[59]

On 19 March 1994, during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the IRA brought down Lynx AH.7 ZD275 of the AAC with an improvised mortar, striking it while attempting to land at Crossmaglen Army base. The pilot managed to crash land, the aircraft was destroyed but all crew on board survived. Author Toby Harnden described the incident as the IRA's most successful operation against a helicopter.^[60][61]

Various British Lynxes were used during the NATO intervention in the conflict between Serbia and Kosovo, later known as the Kosovo War. They were frequently employed to supply NATO forces inside the theatre, including those engaged in humanitarian operations.^[62] In June 1999, the type was employed to escort British ground forces being air-deployed into Kosovo via Chinooks, during NATO's first phase of deployment.^[63] For a number of years, British Army Lynx and Gazelle helicopters were deployed within Kosovo, performing reconnaissance and transport duties in support of the deployed NATO peacekeeping forces.^[64]

In September 2000, Army Lynxes were used in Sierra Leone to rescue several British soldiers during Operation Barras. In 2002, a Lynx attached to HMS Richmond crashed 200 miles off the coast of Virginia.^[65]

In March 2003, the Lynx formed the bulk of the deployed British rotary aviation battle group in the invasion of Iraq. Participating aircraft were quickly outfitted with engine sand filters, armour, heat dissipaters, modern secure radios and radar warning receivers.^[66] In the subsequent multi-national occupation force, a flight of either AAC or CHF Lynx AH.7s were based at Basra International Airport under command of the Joint Helicopter Force (Iraq) on a rotational basis.^[67][68] In theatre, they would escort infantry patrols, perform aerial reconnaissance, provide fire support and act as airborne communications hubs. Performance issues were encountered in the high temperature environment, often operating with no power reserve and thus no ability to overshoot during landings; these were belatedly resolved by the introduction of the Lynx AH.9A.^[69]

On 6 May 2006, Lynx AH.7 XZ6140 of the CHF, was shot down by a man-portable surface-to-air missile over Basra, southern Iraq; the first British helicopter and only the second British aircraft downed (the first was an RAF Hercules) by enemy fire in the war. Among the 5 killed were 847 Naval Air Squadron's commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Darren Chapman; Wing Commander Coxen, who had been due to take command of the region's British helicopter forces, and Flight Lieutenant Sarah-Jayne Mulvihill; Coxen was the most senior British officer to die in the conflict and Mulvihill was the first British servicewoman to die in action in 22 years.^[70][71] At the crash scene, British troops reportedly encountered rioting Iraqi civilians and were fired on by militia, while civilians were killed in the ensuing clashes.^[72] The crash led to a review of the vulnerability of helicopter transports in southern Iraq.^[73]

In 2006, the first Lynx AH.7 was deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan; this variant would only be subsequently used during winter months due to the performance limitations imposed during the high summer temperatures,;^[74] the Lynx AH.9A later deployed was praised as having been a substantial performance improvement.^[75] On 26 April 2014, Lynx AH.9A ZF540 of the Army Air Corps, crashed near Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan, killing the 3 crew and 2 passengers on board. This was the first, fatal accident in the conflict involving a British military helicopter, and the third biggest loss of life of British troops in a single incident in Afghanistan, since 2001.^[76]