By: Warren Gray
Copyright © 2024
“MD 530G is a next-generation, armed, scout-attack helicopter developed by
MD Helicopters. It is designed to provide enhanced agility and firepower for
the armed forces…for the successful execution of attack, reconnaissance, and
security missions…engineered with advanced technology to deliver enhanced,
combat capabilities. It offers efficient and effective performance in
adverse conditions.”
— Army Technology, 2020
The U.S. Army’s elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), also known as the “Night Stalkers,” at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, flies a number of black, special operations helicopters, including 22 Boeing AH-6M Mission-Enhanced Little Birds, with the rare distinction of being the smallest, quietest attack helicopters in the world.
While this is a superb, combat-proven gunship, MD Helicopters of Mesa, Arizona, offers an updated alternative, mostly for export to friendly nations, that may be even better in most respects. The MD 530G Light Scout Attack Helicopter was introduced in February 2014, and received its first export order in February 2016, for six gunships for the Malaysian Army, which were finally delivered by October 2021.
Meanwhile, the new helicopter was upgraded by Elbit Systems of Israel in December 2019, and was redesignated as the MD 530G Block II (BII) in January 2020. According to the manufacturer, “The MD 530G BII is designed to provide close air support operations, employed in missions such as forward air control, armed reconnaissance, attack, counter-insurgency, and observation.”
Now, let’s compare the primary features of the AH-6M and MD 530G, for a better understanding of these two very similar helicopter gunships:
Engine: The AH-6M and MD 530G each feature the same Rolls-Royce/Allison M250-C30R/3M turbine engine, rated for 650 horsepower. Overall performance is very similar for both aircraft.
Rotor systems: The AH-6M has a six-blade, fully articulated, composite, main rotor system, with a four-blade, “Quiet Knight,” tail rotor assembly, while the MD 530G is equipped with a five-blade main rotor and two-blade tail rotor. This is the Little Bird’s principal advantage. More rotor blades equates to less noise, less vibration, reduced rotor speed, and much quieter overall operation.
Airframe: Both helicopters use the basic MD 530F fuselage, virtually identical in dimensions, but the MD 530G is equipped with the more-rugged, high-capacity landing skids from the MD 600N helicopter, for landing with higher gross weight under combat conditions. Both cockpits feature armor panels for pilot protection.
FLIR sensor: The AH-6M mounts a FLIR Systems ZSQ-3 (V2 Attack) lightweight assault FLIR system with laser designator and image-intensified TV, while the MD 530G comes with a very similar Wescam MX-10D FLIR sensor.
Wescam MX-10D FLIR sensor on MD 530G aircraft. Photo credit: MD Helicopters
Helmet-mounted sighting (HMS) system: The Little Bird has no HMS system, using a pair of fixed, 195B-001 (DillonAero DGS MK-12) reflex gunsights inside the windscreen instead. But the MD 530G features an Elbit (Israeli) HDTS (Helmet Display and Tracking System), since 2019, replacing the earlier but quite-capable Thales (British) Scorpion HMS system, which the Malaysian Army received.
The Scorpion is also used by American A-10C attack aircraft, F-16CM jet fighters, F-5E Tiger II aggressor aircraft, the AC-130W (now retired) aerial gunship, and in foreign service aboard H135M (EC 635), H145M, H225M Caracal helicopters, and the French Rafale-B/C/M jet fighter.
According to MD Helicopters, “The HDTS configuration supports both daytime and nighttime operation, allowing the pilot to intuitively maneuver the aircraft into attack positions and engage targets heads-up and eyes out.” The HDTS displays a Continuously-Calculated, Impact Point (CCIP) for weapons fired, greatly enhancing target accuracy. The U.S. Navy uses the new HDTS aboard its MH-60S Seahawk helicopters, and the Marine Corps employs it on their deadly AH-1W Viper attack helicopters.
Elbit HDTS helmet sighting system. Photo credit: Elbit USA
Armament: The latest versions of the AH-6M Little Bird have standardized on one particular weapons configuration: This includes one GAU-19/B .50-caliber, three-barrel, Gatling gun under the left stub wing, with 600 rounds of ammunition inside the rear cabin, and firing at the rate of 21.7 rounds per second, usually in 10-round bursts.
Under the right wing, there is a DillonAero M-134D-H six-barrel Gatling gun in 7.62x51mm NATO, with 3,000 rounds of ammunition in the rear cabin, firing at 50 rounds per second. Finally, the AH-6M carries a seven-shot, M260 pod loaded with either 70mm Hydra-70 unguided rockets, or APR-20B laser-guided missiles.
The MD 530G also has four weapon stations as standard equipment, but unlike the Army’s awkward feeding system for the GAU-19/B gun, which effectively eliminates one weapon station, the MD 530G utilizes a new family of weapons, removing the need for the cumbersome GAU-19 ammo-feed arrangement, and using all four weapon stations.
First, the MD 530G mounts two M134D-H Gatling guns instead of just one, thereby doubling the smaller-caliber firepower. Instead of a single GAU-19/B Gatling gun, it normally uses two FN RMP (Rocket and Machine-gun Pod) units under the outboard, wing stations, each equipped with an FN M3P heavy machine gun in .50-caliber, with 250 rounds of ammunition self-contained within each gun pod, and with each gun firing at a rate of 18.3 rounds per second.
MD 530G armament. Photo credit: MD Helicopters
So, while the AH-6M carries 20-percent more .50-caliber ammunition, it has only one large machine gun, and the MD 530G can dispense much more suppressive firepower with its two guns in a very short period of time.
Next, the MD 530G may also carry M260 pods with rockets or missiles, but the RMP pods each include, in addition to the M3P gun, three new, Raytheon Talon laser-guided missiles, very similar in design to the AGR-20B missile. The Talon has been successfully test-fired out to more than three miles, each striking within less than five feet from the center of a target, with a 10-pound, high-explosive warhead.
This means being armed with six missiles instead of seven on the AH-6M, but with two 7.62mm Gatling guns instead of one, and two .50-caliber machine guns instead of just one. The MD 530G is the clear winner when it comes to armament versatility and sheer firepower!
AH-6M Little Bird firing all weapons simultaneously in 2016. Photo credit: U.S. Marine Corps
Other weapons are also possible, to include the FN HMP400 gun pods, with no missiles, M260 pods loaded with Talon missiles, AGR-20B 70mm missiles as an option, Lockheed Martin DAGR 70mm missiles, and AGM-114K/L/M/N/R-series Hellfire-II laser-guided, anti-tank missiles. GAU-19/B Gatling guns are also listed by the company as a possibility, for customers who prefer them, and the new, DillonAero 503D Gatling gun, a lighter (21-percent) and faster-firing (25 rounds per second) version of the GAU-19/B, may be another option.
The Malaysian Army apparently chose to utilize only the outboard weapon stations, and no M134 guns, with limited armament selections, mostly including the HMP400 gun pods and 70mm unguided rockets.
In addition, DillonAero produces an optional upgrade package in the form of their Mission-Configurable Aircraft System (MCAS-500AH), with six weapon stations instead of the usual four, adding a pair of wingtip-mounted, 35-pound, AGM-176B Griffin-B laser-guided missiles. The U.S. Army has shown no interest in using this system to upgrade their Little Birds, but it is still readily available for any future MD 530G customers.
Since 2020, DillonAero has also produced a new, five-barrel, .338 Norma Magnum Gatling gun, developed for the U.S. Special Operations Command, and firing at a rate of 42 rounds per second, but it’s not currently listed on their website.
As a side note, American AH-6M Little Bird crews wear Glock-19 pistols and ASEK survival knives on their flight vests, and carry Colt M4A1 carbines inside the cockpit. Malaysian Army MD 530G crews from 883 Regiment (Squadron) at Kluang and Sabah Air Bases (with three aircraft at each base) are issued Glock-17 service pistols, and the Colt M4A1 carbine is also standard issue.
Victorinox (Swiss company) makes a camouflaged Malaysian Army Knife multi-tool, a special version of their Outrider knife, which is certain to be quite popular among their MD 530G pilots as a survival knife.
Unit cost: The current price for an AH-6M Little Bird is approximately $4 million to $4.5 million, compared to about $3 million to $3.2 million for an MD 530G, which is quite a significant cost difference (up to 50-percent) for nearly-identical capabilities. The MD 530G truly is the lowest-cost Scout Attack helicopter in the world.
While the small, very nimble, MD 530G BII Light Scout Attack Helicopter clearly equals or outshines the Army’s existing special operations AH-6M Little Birds in almost every respect, the Little Bird still holds one very significant advantage, that of being the smallest, quietest attack helicopter in the world, primarily due to its six-blade, main rotor system and four-blade tail rotor.
In April 2014, an advanced version of the MD 530G was created, featuring a six-blade, fully-articulated, all-composite, Van Horn Aviation rotor system from the MD 600N helicopter, but it still used an ordinary, two-blade tail rotor. This was initially designated the MD 540F, later renamed the MD 540A, but it failed to attract any customers, and development was discontinued in July 2017, with only one prototype constructed.
However, MD helicopters unveiled their new MD6XX Concept Helicopter in March 2017, initially marketed as an assault platform, but currently as a civilian technology demonstrator. It utilizes S411 rotor blades (six blades) by Helicopter Technology Co., and a four-blade tail rotor, just like the AH-6M, and in the same size category (27.5 feet) as the MD 530G’s rotors. This certainly opens the possibility of upgrading all future MD 530G gunships with the newest rotor systems, for whisper-quiet operation.
There is also a slightly-downgraded version of the MD 530G, called the MD 530F+ Cayuse Warrior Plus (CWP), or since late December 2023, renamed the AH530 Block II, with most of the capabilities of the MD 530G, but without the Elbit HDTS helmet-mounted sighting system. Lebanon has received six of these, initially touted as MD 530Gs, but actually very similar, MD 530F+ models, and Nigeria will soon receive a further 12 examples, but these are not full-fledged MD 530G gunships.
By combining the very best features of the advanced MD6XX rotor systems, MD 600N reinforced landing skids, MD 540A six-blade-rotor concept, and the MD 530G avionics and armament systems, we can create an all-new, state-of-the-art Light Scout Attack Helicopter, potentially designated the MD 640G (for six blades, four tail rotors, and MD 530G overall features), or possibly the AH640. After all, that’s what technology demonstrators like the MD6XX are for, demonstrating useful, new technology.
MD6XX concept helicopter, with six-blade, main rotor and Star SAFIRE 380-HDc FLIR sensor. Photo credits: Airforce Technology
MD6XX concept helicopter, with six-blade, main rotor and Star SAFIRE 380-HDc FLIR sensor. Photo credits: MD Helicopters
With the official cancellation of the U.S. Army’s six-year-long, $2-billion, Future Attack-Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) project for a next-generation, scout helicopter, on February 8, 2024, the requirement for existing scout helicopters such as the AH-6M and MD 530G becomes much more significant in the near term, since they will have to continue to serve without replacements for many years to come.
The Army has learned from the modern war in Ukraine that helicopters are quite vulnerable, and almost obsolete, in an era of unrestricted, drone warfare. David Axe wrote for The Telegraph on February 14, 2024, that, “An absolute bloodbath among helicopter pilots on both sides of Russia’s two-year, wider war on Ukraine…Inasmuch as the helicopter is dying, the Ukraine war is killing it. Helicopters have dropped like flies on both sides…Today, the air over the 600-mile front line in Ukraine might be mostly devoid of manned helicopters. But it’s practically teeming with drone helicopters…the Army is launching more and more drones…[to] accelerate the Army’s unmanned, aerial reconnaissance capability.”
This means that conventional helicopter missions in open warfare are no longer safe or practical, but there is still a place for the manned helicopter in clandestine, special operations, mostly at night and flying at very low altitude, which both add considerable danger to helicopter sorties. So, there is still a need for manned helicopters, especially very small, light, nimble, scout helicopters, but not in the traditional sense of troop transport into battle in broad daylight.
In conclusion, the MD 530G BII Light Scout Attack Helicopter shows great promise as a small, lightweight, military gunship, but in order to truly compete with the better-known, combat-proven AH-6M Little Bird special operations aircraft, it needs to be upgraded with MD6XX rotor systems, which will result in the MD 530G outclassing the AH-6M in virtually every category! Sometimes, the best solution is right there in front of us, and a lot simpler than anyone imagined.
* * *
Warren Gray is a retired U.S. Air Force intelligence officer with experience in joint special operations and counterterrorism. He served in Europe and the Middle East, earned Air Force and Navy parachutist wings, four college degrees, including a Master of Aeronautical Science degree, and was a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Intelligence Operations Specialist Course, and the USAF Combat Targeting School. He is currently a published author and historian.