Bell AH-1Z Viper

The Bell AH-1Z Viper is an updated attack helicopter based on the AH-1W Super Cobra and has been developed for the United States Marine Corps.  The two-blade semi-rigid of the Super Cobra has been replaced with a four-blade, hinge-less, bearing-less rotor system.  The new four-blade configuration improves flight characteristics including maximum speed, vertical rate-of-climb, payload and reduced rotor vibration level.

The two redesigned wings are longer and each adds a wing-tip mount for a missile such as the AIM-9 Sidewinder. Each wing can also carry Hydra 70 rocket pods, or AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles, with up to 16 missiles mounted in four 4-round M272 missile launchers, two on each wing.

The Viper has a cruising speed of 184 mph (296 km/h) and a top speed of 255 mph (411 km/h) in a dive.  The 20 mm M197 3-barreled Gatling gun in the turret has a 750 round ammo capacity.