Posted: Dec 24, 2014 1:09 pm
Teague wrote:Remember the Comanche Gunship?
This had the misfortune [1] to be planned around a mission that evaporated during development, and [2] to be in development right around the time UAVs were starting to demonstrate huge potential at far lower cost.
From the standpoint of helicopter design, the RAH-66 Comanche is a tour de force, a working, operational stealth helicopter, which once integrated with its weapons systems properly, is likely to be the best attack/recon helicopter produced to date. Trouble is, the US Army didn't want to pay $40 million per unit once the procurement numbers started being rolled back, when for the same $40 million, it could pick up 10 UAVs that could perform much the same job, with the added benefit of the operating crew being safely in an air conditioned bunker in Missouri, 7,000 miles from the battlefield.