AH-1 Series "Huey" Cobra attack helicopter (1965)
The UH-1 Huey was too slow for the gun ship or escort role, furthermore it was large, thus it was a good aim for the enemy. The new AH-1G Cobra attack helicopter (1966) was planned to be smaller. Tandem seating of the two crew members the Cobra decreased the width of the chopper significantly.
The Bell AH-1G Cobra (Snake) has a two-bladed, semi-rigid, metal main rotor and a rigid, metal tail rotor, slim fuselage and fully retractable skids, so its speed was twice of the UH-1B. It could loiter over the target area three times as long, its armor was stronger. The primary mission was direct fire support, armed escort and reconnaissance. Its equipped with rockets, machine guns and smoke grenades dispenser. It was first used in August, 1967 in Vietnam, where its primary mission was to give fire support to troop carrying Hueys.
The Q model was designed against armored units. In 1973, it was used in Vietnam, but was unable to carry a full weapon load in that environment, so that lead to the development of the AH-1S, however, its first production was in 1977, after the war.