Army cancells Comanche

[Kingairrick]

All I saw so far.

LINKYLINK

Too bad, that thing looked cool...

More HERE

 

[getonit]

That is what is wrong with the military. I saw an article that said they started development in 1983 and was expected to be online in 2006. A mere 23 years to develop a new weapons system!!!Ridiculous. Anybody who says the military needs more money is full of scheise.

 

[bart]

Paul Sr is going to give Pauly hell for not finishing that bike on time...

 

[A Squared]

Sounds sort of like MLS, the FAA screwed around so long in the implemenatation that it was obsolete before it ever became fully operational


By contrast, North American signed a contract with britain to designe the p-51 in April 1940 and flew the first prototype in Oct of the same year. The first production aircraft delivered arrived in Britain about a year later.

 

[EagleRJ]

What was that helicopter gunship that was designed in the '70s that was also killed after a lot of money was dumped into it?

It had two tail rotors- one pushing aft so they could unload the main rotor and reach much higher speeds.

Exactly the same story- years of infighting over the final design, interservice rivalry, technical problems, budget overruns, and then the project was finally killed after $Billions had been dumped into it.

 

[bart]

Cheyenne, I believe.

 

[enigma]

I'm not a rotorhead, but I did read an article in a recent Aviation Week about the probable cancellation. They basically blamed the cancellation on helo problems in general. Apparently, the last couple of conflicts have proven to the military that helos are just to darn vulnerable. They must have decided to cut their losses now, instead of pour money into a hole. Also, it would appear that the Army wants to move their fighting rotorwing force over to the unmanned birds. Too darn bad for the taxpayers that it took this long recognize the obvious.

enigma

 

[MarineGrunt]

Heard from a source, not sure if it was reliable, that the army was expecting the AH66 to do things that it just wasn't capable of. Not surprised it got cancelled.

 

[norskman2]

Apparently, the last couple of conflicts have proven to the military that helos are just to darn vulnerable.

enigma

Heck, this problem dates back to the Key West agreement the four branches of the armed services signed right after WWII. Remember the old Army Air Corps? The creation of USAF meant the Army had to agree to basically NEVER fly fixed-wing aircraft again (with a few minor exceptions like the Birddogs in Vietnam).

The result has been a Mega-FUBAR situation ever since. The Army keeps trying to push through Super Copters like Cheyenne and Comanche because they have no other alternative if they want to play in the air superiority game.

That's why the Army can't just go out and get themselves a REAL tank buster and ground attack plane like the A-10 Warthog. The Warthog is exactly the kind of flying machine the Army should have, but can't -- a specifically-designed close support attack plane. It's basically a tank with wings -- in Gulf War I & II they'd come back with half their tail shot off. By contrast, the Apache (or any helicopter for that matter) is lightly armored, because a helicopter can't lift enough armor plating.

Instead, the AF tried to kill the project all along, had it rammed down their throats only because a leading Congressman was from the district where Fairchild built it. When it reached production, the AF brass shunted it off to ANG units -- the ONLY time a new aircraft has ever been gone straight to the Guard.

The AF brass has to be dragged kicking and screaming when it comes to supporting the ground grunts, and would rather spend their billions on fighters and bombers, not attack aircraft and transports.

Hey, God bless our men and women in uniform. But when it comes to the geniuses in the E Ring, they truly prove, as George Carlin used to say, "military intelligence" can often be an oxymoron.

 

[Snakum]

Sorry to hear about the Commanche. Saw one once and it looked deadly as hell.

Didn't I read somewhere that the Army was going to lobby for the A-10s to be turned over to them? I know all about the agreements with the AF, however I thought I read that the top brass were going to bat with Congress or some d@mn body to lobby for their own fixed-wing CAS assets?

Minh