Dominant Logistics
CAS / Recon Autogyros - The Flying Jeep
One of the bigger problems facing the U.S. military is the aviation mission of CAS/Recon. Most don't group these roles together, but history has demonstrated that when the bullets get to flying on the tactical level, both of these roles end up being performed by the same aircraft. Unfortunately, many within the Pentagon seem to make a living trying to kill off any aircraft that proves capable in performing these roles.
There are a wide variety of ways in which these missions can be performed. Some have suggested using micro-helicopters that could serve as a sort of modern horse for the individual troop. Others have insisted that light fixed-wing aircraft offer a better solution due to lower costs and maintenance requirements. But what seems to be the least discussed but most promising concept is the use of autogyros in these roles.
Autogyros combine many of the traits of the helicopter and conventional plane into a single aircraft. Perhaps the most famous of the modern autogyros is the CarterCopter from Carter Aviation Technologies. Intended to take the autogyro to the next level, the CarterCopter offers an ideal baseline from which to build a true CAS / Recon autogyro.
The CarterCopter has gone through serious difficulties in testing but for this application, we don't need the extreme performance levels pursued by Carter. Normal autogyros typically have a top speed of around 120mph and this is plenty fast for this role as these aircraft will be designed to be forward deployed with ground forces. This means that we can eliminate the wings and place weapon mounts in the stubs between the fuselage and rear struts. The CarterCopter's Corvette engine should also be replaced with a lightweight diesel of similar power. This retains fuel commonality with the rest of the force while retaining ease of maintenance. We can also keep the CC's rotor and transmission designs making this autogyro a true VTOL aircraft.
For landing gear, this design can easily incorporate tracked landing gear, including a fixed set of tracks in the rear that will allow the aircraft to be towed on the ground. Realistically, this design could be towed by a HMMWV that would serve as a maintenance support vehicle as well. A larger vehicle would provide fuel support but there wouldn't be much more required to support this aircraft.
Mission Capabilities
While autogyros are often ignored because of their low top speeds and lack of hovering capability, one of their unique and more useful traits is that they can fly at very low forward speeds for very long periods of time. They are also much safer than conventional aircraft and helicopters in that landing the aircraft without power is no different than a normal landing. This is also a much more durable and damage resistant design than conventional aircraft.
The first capability that really jumps out is that of an airborne escort for ground operations. This autogyro can cruise at the same speed as the convoy for as long and far as most convoys travel. It can serve in a recon role giving the convoy commander a bird's eye view or it can serve in a fire support role. With the slow speeds of the autogyro combined with it's substantial payload capacity, we can even remove the windscreen and place a gunner on the passenger side of the aircraft. For that matter, we can even engage in the WWI practice of dropping mortar bombs from the aircraft.
While we have the windscreen off, no reason we can't load up the passenger side with either cargo or a casualty on a stretcher. There should even be enough room for another person in the rear with a stretcher in place. Or we can just load up these areas with cargo or personnel and use the vehicle for transportation purposes.
Need more firepower? Leave enough space between the fuselage and rear struts and we can mount up a variety of rockets, missiles, or gun pods. For cav missions, we may go with unguided rockets or ATGMs like the Javelin. For fire support, we can go with laser guided options like Hellfire and laser-guided FFARs. Gun pods up to 30mm should be available but smaller gatling gun versions will likely be the preferred gun pods. With this level of firepower, it can serve as a COIN aircraft, an armed escort for helicopters, an airborne rocket artillery system, or as an airborne cavalry scout.
The Flying Jeep
What we are getting in the end is really a Flying Jeep. When the Jeep was first introduced in WWII, it radically changed the military in that it served as an excellent blank slate from which forces could do a variety of things. They could modify jeeps to meet whatever needs they had. This design offers similar potential. Unlike larger aircraft, this design doesn't have to fly to get around the tactical area - it can easily be towed around by a HMMWV making it readily available whenever flight is desired. Unlike microhelicopters, this design has substantial payload capacity while still remaining small enough to be forward deployed on a practical level.
A key factor in any transport system is the need to transport personnel and their gear in their structured groups. What this means is that to be effective, the transport needs to be able to carry a platoon, a squad, or in this case a team. Whether it be a fire team, sniper team, mortar team, what have you, this autogyro design can carry the full team and their gear to whatever location is necessary. This eliminates the delays and confusion associated with groups having to "form up" once they are dropped off by their transport vehicle.