Crazy Soldier Riding Outside an Apache Helicopter

This picture, showing a soldier “riding” an Apache helicopter–one of the coolest, deadliest flying toys ever–outside its cockpit, is going to make the usual “FAKE!” web shouters jump off their chairs. But before you do that, military expert Christian Lowe at Defense Tech thinks it may be real. And indeed, here’s video of a similar ride under enemy fire to prove it.

Christian saw Special Forces riding the ammo bay of Cobra helicopters in Afghanistan before, but nothing like this. Defence Tech readers provided with a few accounts about this “riding technique” used in actual combat, some of them under extreme circumstances. Here you can see infrared footage of a rescue mission carried out by four Royal Marines on Apache helicopters. Updated with another photo angle.

It’s real. There was a lot more information on the blogs a year and a half ago when four British Royal Marines went back into a hot LZ in Afghanistan to try to rescue a fellow marine, hanging on the outside of Apache helicopters.

There’s even the story of a US Apache co-pilot who got out the cockpit and gave his seat to a wounded soldier, riding back home outside the helicopter. Forget about Iron Man and Batman. These guys are the real superheroes. [Defense Tech]