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The Super Cobra is used in close air support for Marines under fire and sometimes for coordinating artillery strikes, with pilots ordering the strikes from the air.
But the Super Cobra is being replaced with the AH-1Z Viper, the Corps' newest attack helicopter, and is expected to completely phased out by 2020.
It has two external wing stations on each side, which carry 2.75-inch to 5-inch rockets and a variety of precision-guided missiles, such as TOWs, Hellfires, Sidewinders, or Sidearms.
It's also armed with a 20 mm turreted cannon, seen below.
Here's a shot from the side.
We then jumped in the back cockpit, seen below. The Super Cobra is rather old and doesn't have digital displays.
The Super Cobra is operated by two pilots in two separate cockpits, much like the Army's Apache. While both cockpits can fly the helicopter and fire the weapons, the back one is suited more for flying while the front is gear toward weapons control.
But kids visiting the helicopter seemed rather jealous when they saw us get into the back cockpit, as no one else was actually allowed to get in. So we asked one of the pilots to jump in the front and take a picture for us.
As you can see, the front cockpit is a little different than the back — especially the binocular sight.
The pilot uses the binocular sight to operate the Night Targeting System, seen below, which detects and tracks targets, designating them and determining ranges.
