McDonnell Douglas MD 500 Defender

The McDonnell Douglas MD 500 Defender is a light multi-role military helicopter developed from the MD 500 light utility helicopter and, through it, from the Hughes OH-6 Cayuse scout of the Vietnam War era. Designers at Hughes Helicopters saw a market for light multi-mission helicopters better equipped than the OH-6 and the Model 500M, and the resulting Model 500MD Defender first flew in 1976. It was tailored to specific roles, from unarmed observation to an armed scout carrying TOW anti-tank missiles, and an anti-submarine version added a search radar, a magnetic anomaly detector and the ability to carry lightweight torpedoes. Customers such as Kenya could buy a functional anti-armour helicopter for less than half the price of a gunship, and Israel used the Defender extensively against Syrian armoured forces in the late 1970s and 1980s. A later improved version, the MD 530MG, brought more engine power, better handling and avionics, and a redesigned forward fuselage.