Length : 53' (16m) Weight : 8,404lbs (3780kg) Payload : 2,500lbs (1125kg) Cruise Speed : 138mph (225kph) Range : 359 miles (578km)

The UH-1 "Huey" was too slow for the gun ship or escort role. Bell Helicopter won the competition for an interim fast armed escort helicopter in March 1966, against the Sikorsky S-61 and the Kaman H-2 Tomahawk, while the Army was waiting for the fielding of the AAFSS AH-56A Cheyenne. The AAFSS program was cancelled in 1972. Based on their AAFSS entry, a scaled-down Iroquois Warrior, Bell Helicopter borrowed from two important developmental programs in designing the World's first attack helicopter:

(1) Initially the Cobra mounted a modified chin-turret developed for the Bell Sioux Scout. The XM64 (TAT-102) mounted a single M134 "Minigun". Initial versions of the AH-1G Cobra were fielded with an enlarged, modified chin-turret, designated the XM28 armament subsystem (TAT-141), mounting two 7.62mm "Miniguns" or two 40mm grenade launchers, or one of each.

(2) Bell made use of existing technology by designing a streamlined fuselage using the same Lycoming T53-L-11 1100 shp engine, drive train, gear boxes, rotor system, boom and tail unit from the model UH-1C "Huey". The "540" rotor system, developed for the UH-1C was modified by development of a computerized stability control augmentation system (SCAS) for use in place of the short weighted gyro-stabilizer bar first used on the Bell (model 47) OH-13 Sioux.

Some early model AH-1G Cobras mounted either two M134 "Miniguns" or two M129 grenade launchers in a M28A1 chin-turret (TAT-141). Because of problems with the ammunition feed systems, the twin-gun configuration was discontinued. The Cobra was first employed to Vietnam with the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in August 1967. The Cobra's primary mission was to give fire support to troop carrying "Hueys". The AH-1G Cobra was powered by a single Lycoming T53-L-13 1400 shp turbine engine, and had a speed of 196 mph (170 knots), almost twice the speed of the UH-1 "Huey". The AH-1G Cobra used the M73 reflex sight. The Cobra performed it's job so well it was possible for the first time for "slicks" and gun ships to operated as true air cavalry.

Later models of the AH-1G Cobra, or "Snake", were armed with 2.75 inch (70mm) Folding Fin Aerial Rockets (FFARS) in M158 seven-tube or M200 19-tube rocket launchers, used so effectively at An Loc in 1972. The Cobra had a chin-turret on the M28/M28A1 armament subsystem. The chin-turret mounted the M134 7.62mm "Minigun" and the M129 40mm grenade launcher. The AH-1G could also be armed with the M134 "Minigun" in fixed side-mounting M18/M18A1 gun pod, and the port (left) side mounting M195 20mm automatic gun on the M35 armament subsystem. The AH-1G could also mount the XM118 smoke grenade dispenser.

M195 six-barrel 20mm automatic gun on M35 fixed mount armament subsystem	Inboard M195 six-barrel 20mm automatic gun  and outboard M158 seven-tube 2.75 inch rocket launcher

The Bell (model 209) AH-1G Cobra featured the new "540" wide-bladed rotor and a slim fuselage that gave it twice the speed of the UH-1B "Huey". It could loiter over the target area three times as long, and had an improved armament system over previous gun ships. Tandem seating of the two crew members in the Cobra, with a width of just 38-inches, presented a much smaller target than the 100-inch wide UH-1 "Huey". The Cobra had a two-bladed semi-rigid seesaw bonded all metal main rotor and two-bladed rigid delta hinge bonded all metal tail rotor. The AH-1G Cobra's mission was direct aerial fire support, armed escort, and reconnaissance.