A utility helicopter is a multi-purpose

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribut ...

capable of fulfilling many different roles.

Civil

Many civilian helicopters are made for utility work such as

agricultural aircraft An agricultural aircraft is an aircraft that has been built or converted for agricultural use – usually aerial application of pesticides ( crop dusting) or fertilizer ( aerial topdressing); in these roles they are referred to as "crop du ...

. Many police and fire departments maintain and operate utility helicopters to augment their regular forces. In many countries local hospital services operate

medevac Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to wounded being evacuated from a battlefield, to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of a ...

helicopters for special time-sensitive cases.

Military

A utility military helicopter can fill roles such as ground attack,

air assault Air assault is the movement of ground-based military forces by vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft—such as the helicopter—to seize and hold key terrain which has not been fully secured, and to directly engage enemy forces behind ...

, military logistics, CASEVAC,

medical evacuation Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to wounded being evacuated from a battlefield, to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of a ...

command and control Command and control (abbr. C2) is a "set of organizational and technical attributes and processes ... hatemploys human, physical, and information resources to solve problems and accomplish missions" to achieve the goals of an organization or e ...

, and troop transport. Some overlap of terminology is inevitable with

transport helicopter A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military-owned transport aircraft used to support military operations by airlifting troops and military equipment. Transport aircraft are crucial to maintaining supply ...

. Prominent examples of utility helicopters include the American Bell Huey family, Russian

Mil Mi-2 The Mil Mi-2 ( NATO reporting name Hoplite) is a small, three rotor blade Soviet-designed multi-purpose helicopter developed by the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant designed in the early 1960s, and produced exclusively by WSK "PZL-Świdnik" in Po ...

series and the French

Aérospatiale Alouette III The Aérospatiale Alouette III (, ''Lark''; company designations SA 316 and SA 319) is a single-engine, light utility helicopter developed by French aircraft company Sud Aviation. During its production life, it proved to be a relatively popular ...

References

External links

* * Lists of aircraft by role {{Aero-stub

Civil

Military

See also

References

External links