[cawest]

Originally Posted by chico20854

That's practical only to a limited extent. Normally helos transported by sea are shrink-wrapped (see this photo) to protect them from the corrosion from the sea spray. The pilots and ground crew normally deploy by air and link up with their aircraft at the pier. Army helicopter pilots are not normally trained on shipboard landing procedures, which in the North Atlantic winter could be quite dicey. (The Canadian Navy developed a system to winch helicopters down onto the landing pad of frigates and destroyers!) The cargo ships are not normally set up to support flight operations (they would ideally need additonal lighting, firefighting, maintenance shops, fuel and oxygen supplies, an ordnance magazine, additional accomodations, fresh water and generators) and leaving room for flight operations and maintenance reduces the ship's carrying capacity. Of course there are workarounds, but most helicopters being deployed by sea will not be able to be flown along the way.

yes, in peace time but if your going to be carrying helos. why not use them because what happens if that ship sinks with the helos on them. sometimes you have to learn on the job. https://nationalinterest.org/blog/re...er-ship-183127