What If a Modern Helicopter Fought in the Vietnam War? | AH-64 Apache vs 1970s Battlefield - video Dailymotion

What If

What if the Vietnam War had a modern attack helicopter? In this episode of Two Brain Cells, the AH-64 Apache, armed with Hellfire missiles, 30mm chain gun, and thermal imaging, joins the fight over the jungles of Vietnam.  Watch as the Apache takes on Viet Cong guerrillas, SAM sites, and MiG fighters, using 21st-century targeting systems and night vision to dominate the skies. Could one helicopter turn the tide of the war—or would fuel, logistics, and numbers bring it down?  #WhatIfWar #VietnamWar #AH64Apache #ModernWarfare #AlternateHistory #USArmy #MilitaryHistory #WarSimulation #AttackHelicopter #VietCong #HistoryChannel #DefenseTech #HelicopterWarfare #TwoBrainCells #MilitaryTechnology

Transcript

00:00November 14th, 1965, the Drang Valley. Machine gun fire tears through elephant grass while

00:06mortar rounds explode in the red dirt and American soldiers call desperately for air

00:11support. Hundreds are dead and hundreds more are injured. But let's change one thing.

00:16Hovering above landing zone x-ray is something no one understands. An AH-64 Apache attack

00:22helicopter from 2020 dropped into a battle it wasn't built for. So what happens when the most

00:27advanced attack helicopter on earth is unleashed during one of the bloodiest firefights in Vietnam?

00:33Can it turn the tide of war or is it just one chopper and way over its head? The Apache roars,

00:39its twin turbine engines screaming. It's got armor plating designed to withstand up to 23 millimeter

00:44cannon rounds, a nose mounted M230 chain gun, 1200 rounds of 30 millimeter ammunition, 16 hellfire

00:52laser guided missiles with eight kilometer range and 76 70 millimeter hydro rockets split between

00:59four pods. But what really makes it terrifying is its sensors. It's got thermal imaging, target

01:05acquisition systems that can track 256 threats simultaneously, and a helmet mounted display

01:11that points the chain gun to wherever the gunner looks. In 1965 terms, it's the firepower of a

01:18squadron guided by technology of the distant future. The Apache cruises at 165 miles per hour and tops

01:25out at 182. Its combat radius is 300 miles on internal fuel or enough for three hours of continuous

01:32operations, and its composite armor can take small arms fire without a mark. Even the rotor blades are

01:38built to survive 23 millimeter hits. But it's not invincible. Those turbines guzzle fuel, its ammunition

01:44is finite with no resupply in 1965. And if the North Vietnamese concentrate enough firepower,

01:50even an Apache can fall. Speaking of the North Vietnamese, they've got three full regimens in this

01:56fight. The 32nd, 33rd, and 66th. We're talking about 4,000 battle hardened soldiers who know this

02:03jungle like the back of their hands. They've got AK-47s, RPD machine guns, 82 millimeter mortars,

02:09and most dangerously, the will to accept massive casualties for their cause. Their commander,

02:15General Chu Hui-man, has one strategy. Get close and stay close. Grab them by the belt buckle,

02:22they call it. Hug the Americans so tight that their artillery and air support become useless.

02:28It's worked before, it'll work again. These are professionals who've practiced one thing for

02:33years, killing Americans. They move through the jungle like ghosts, set up interlocking fields of fire,

02:39use the terrain to funnel enemies into kill zones. And when they attack, they come in human waves

02:45designed to overwhelm any defense. The Apache's radio crackles with desperate calls. Broken arrow,

02:51broken arrow. The universal distress signal when a unit is about to be overrun. The Apache surges

02:56forward, rotors beating the humid air. Below, Charlie Company's perimeter is buckling. 200 Vietnamese

03:02soldiers charge across open ground. AK's blazing, ready to overwhelm the American position.

03:07The M230 chaingun swivels to life. Through the helmet-mounted display, the gunner paints the

03:13attacking wave with 30-millimeter high-explosive rounds just by looking at them and pressing the

03:18trigger. Bodies disintegrate in clouds of red mist. The assault line wavers, breaks, and scatters.

03:2440 Vietnamese soldiers are torn apart in six seconds of sustained fire. Thermal sensors sweep the

03:30battlefield, revealing three more battalions massing in the treeline. Radio antennas, map cases,

03:35officers pointing. It's a command group clustered together and convinced they're invisible in the

03:41distant canopy. No idea they've already become the next target. A hellfire missile leaves the rail,

03:47and its laser designator locks steady on the command post, eight kilometers away. 18 seconds later,

03:53the entire post evaporates in a ball of flame and shrapnel as the Mach 1.3 missile finds its target.

03:59The coordinated assault loses its brain before it even begins, and half the battalion commanders

04:04suddenly go silent. The Apache shifts position, disappearing behind a ridge line only to pop up

04:10two kilometers away. More heat signatures bloom on the thermal display. This time,

04:14it's mortar teams setting up to pound the American landing zone. The rocket pods adjust,

04:19and a dozen hydro rockets streak toward the mortar. The ridge erupts in overlapping explosions and

04:25secondary detonations as stationary mortar rounds cook in the inferno. The battle transforms into

04:31something the Vietnamese have never experienced. Every time they mass for an attack, death arrives

04:35from above. The chain gun chatters in short, efficient bursts. Rockets appear at unimaginable

04:40speeds and from unexpected angles. Hellfires turn fortified positions into smoking craters before they

04:47know they've been spotted. The jungle that has always been their shield becomes transparent. Hidden

04:53soldiers become sitting ducks. The Vietnamese try to adapt, spread formations, multi-directional

04:59attacks, but the Apache moves too fast and hits too hard. It races from sector to sector at 150 miles

05:05per hour and seems to already be wherever the threat concentrates. That distinctive sound of its

05:11rotor becomes the stuff of nightmares for the Vietnamese, now struggling to simply catch their breath.

05:16By noon, the entire dynamic has reversed. Instead of surrounding the Americans and picking them off,

05:21the Vietnamese are pulling back, trying to break contact and recoup. Meanwhile, thermal imaging

05:26tracks their retreat. The fleeing soldiers glow white hot against the cool jungle floor. Rockets

05:31slam into retreating columns. The chain gun picks off stragglers. Soldiers abandon weapons to run faster.

05:37Unit cohesion collapses entirely. They came expecting casualties, but not like this. It seems like there

05:42isn't a fight to be had, but the Apache has its limits. Fuel gauges drop toward empty. Ammunition

05:47counters tick ever downward, and 800 rounds of 30 millimeter, 40 rockets, and six hellfires have been

05:54spent. It fights hard, but it can't last. The Apache banks east toward Camp Halloway, and its ground

06:00crews scramble to jerry-rig fuel connection. JP-4 flows into empty tanks. It's not the modern JP-8 the

06:06Apache was designed for, so the engine efficiency will be reduced, but it will have to work. The biggest

06:11problem is 30 millimeter rounds, and hellfires won't exist for another 20 years. It'll have to

06:16make the most of its remaining firepower. Day two barely arrives when the Vietnamese attempt their

06:21favorite tactic, a night assault. In 1965, darkness was their domain, as American firepower became clumsy

06:27in the black. 2,000 soldiers amassed for an attack at 0200 hours. They don't quite understand that the

06:33Apache sees heat, not light. The gunship lifts off in pitch darkness. The sound of its engine sends

06:39shivers through the Vietnamese ranks, but they press on. The night hasn't let them down yet. This will be

06:45a first. Through the FLIR display, the battlefield glows with Vietnamese soldiers creeping through

06:50elephant grass. Every movement, every gesture, every weapon is visible. The first rocket salvo catches

06:56them in the open, one after another fire in rapid succession, followed quickly by the chaingun which

07:02sweeps back and forth, guided by thermal crosshairs. The night attack dies before it reaches the

07:07American perimeter. 2,000 men are dead, wounded or running for their lives, finally realizing they

07:13can't understand what they are fighting. By dawn of the third day, the Battle of Ladrang is over.

07:18Bodies carpet the approach routes to Holloway without ground forces needing to fire a single shot.

07:24General Mann orders full withdrawal. His regiments have lost over 2,000 men, double historical casualties,

07:30and American losses remain minimal in the dozens instead of hundreds. The Apache settles onto landing

07:36zone x-ray one final time. Ammunition exhausted and fuel tanks nearly dry, it's run its course.

07:42Still, for three days in the Ladrang Valley, one modern helicopter would absolutely dominate the 1965

07:48battlefield, save hundreds of American lives, and shatter enemy formations with ease. It was impressive,

07:55no doubt, but wars aren't won by single weapons. The Apache can't be everywhere, it can't stop every

08:01ambush or secure every village, and it definitely can't last the entire war. Or what do you think

08:07would happen? And if you're curious, what would happen if a modern destroyer fought in World War II?

08:12Check out the video on screen now. Thanks for watching.

What If a Modern Helicopter Fought in the Vietnam War? | AH-64 Apache vs 1970s Battlefield

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