Move To Complex Combat Helo Would Take The Royal Back To The Front Lines

The UK Army Air Corps recently indicated that Prince Harry, now in training to fly the Lynx helo, may be moved to Apache training based on stellar performance.  The Corps use the Lynx AH7 and AH9 for troop transport and convoy protection while the AgustaWestland-built Apache AH1 is the primary attack helo.

According to the Corps, the Apache utilizes a Day TV system, Thermal Imaging sight and Direct View Optics and carries a mix of weapons including rockets, Hellfire missiles and a 30mm chain gun.  Pilots use a heads-up display to integrate the vast amount of data generated by the helo.

"The Apache can disorientate a lot of pilots because of its technical demands" a military source told the UK's Daily Mail. "For instance the pilot receives his information through a monocle that covers one eye.  You have so much information coming in all the time, it is very demanding. They are hard work."

The 25-year-old Prince was deployed as a Forward Air Controller to Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in 2008.  The Prince had previously professed a desire to fly the Apache, but stated he was concerned over "brain capacity - I don't know if I've got it for the Apache." 

There may have been general agreement with the royal's self-assessment: he has been in training at Middle Wallop in Hampshire, England, learning to fly the older Westland Lynx.  According to the Daily Mail, one of the Prince's superiors stated "Harry has done better on his course than we were expecting and that is why the Apache is now being considered for him."

Prince Harry was the first member of the British Royal Family to have served in a war zone since his uncle, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, flew helicopters during the Falklands War in 1982.  His older brother, Prince William, is in training with the RAF but will not be allowed in active combat as he is in direct line of ascension to the throne.

FMI: http://www.army.mod.uk/