And here’s an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter painted by green laser pointers during protests in Egypt

July 2, 2013 Helicopters
David Cenciotti

After the stunning video of hundreds of green laser pointers dazzling a Mil Mi-8 Hip chopper during the protests in Tahrir Square, Cairo, here’s an impressive photo showing the same treatment reserved to an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.

AH-64

Source: AFP

The risk in similar situations is that the pilot in the cockpit is blinded by the laser and suffers spatial disorientation that can be quite dangerous, eventually leading to the helicopter crashing on the protesters.

Here below, another impressive screenshot showing the Hip literally painted by the green laser pointers.

Mi-8 laser

H/T to Ronald Elzenga for the heads-up and to Sami (@exo) for the new Mi-8 image.

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About David Cenciotti
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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.

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4 Comments

  1. I don’t know about the Hip, but I’d expect the Apache pilot to have been adequately protected against at least the typical wavelengths of laser light. Also, considering how the cheaper laser pointers tend to put out significantly more than their rated power at infrared wavelengths, the music from the Apaches laser warning system must have been something too!

  2. I wonder if handheld laser pointers operate on a wavelength that triggers his on-board AVR-2 (Laser Engagement Warning System)? If so, the darn thing must have been going berserk!

  3. Wait, this is meant to be a celebration, saying thanks to the people flying the chopper ? I thought they were deliberately trying to blind it’s cameras so the protesters couldn’t be identified…

  4. I always thought that bringing down a helicopter with sniper rifles was more a fictional ability rather than anything close to reality. This proves the opposite

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