New Hueys being tested.

The US Marine Corps' newest utility helicopter, the Bell UH-1Y (Yankee) Huey, fired weapons for the first time during a test flight at the Army's Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. The weapons testing is to evaluate the aircraft's reaction to the stresses placed on it by weapons being launched or fired from it. The routine testing ensures loads and vibrations are within expected limits when the weapons mounted are fired. Upon completion of this portion of the test, approximately 400 6.98-cm rockets, 12,800 rounds of machine gun ammunition, 136 flares, 104 chaff canisters and 104 decoys will have been fired from the Yankee on nearly 40 test flights. By 2014, the Marine Corps will have procured 100 UH-1Y Hueys and 180 AH-1Z Super Cobras.