The Don Englebreston Collection

AH-1 Cobra Gunship with Shark-Mouth Nose Art and Pilot, Southeast Asia

AH-1 Cobra Gunship with Shark-Mouth Nose Art and Pilot, Southeast Asia

An AH-1 Cobra gunship, its nose adorned with distinctive shark-mouth artwork, stands ready on a forward airstrip in Southeast Asia. Cobra gunships like this one provided close air support and armed escort for helicopter assault and reconnaissance teams during clandestine cross-border missions such as Operation Tailwind, conducted by MACV-SOG in 1970. Project: 219425