3/12/2024 0 Comments Comanche language lessonsLike its ability to fly, many other aspects of Comanche’s technology were deemed too risky (i.e. James Williams explains in his 2005 book A History Of Army Aviation: “no one could say what the weight really was, because many designs remained unfinished.” So. Then again, maybe the engines would have been fine – as Dr. Unless of course staying on the ground was part of Comanche’s stealth strategy. I’m no helicopter expert, but I can say with reasonable certainty that getting off the ground is an important capability. Reasons for the cancellation abounded.įor starters, it was not clear the engines (had they been built) would be powerful enough to get a fully loaded, 10,000+ lb Comanche off the ground (had it been built). After spending 22 years and $6.9 billion, the Army cancelled the Comanche program, having received precisely zero helos. Work continued for a couple more years, and the end came in 2004. Looks like Comanche was less awesome and more bogus than predicted. Even if there had been any Soviets around, there wasn’t anything to see, and not because the thing was so stealthy. The other reason the Soviets never saw it coming is because none were ever built – not counting two early prototypes. There simply were no Soviets left to even look for the thing and we hadn’t even started building them yet. Of course, the Soviets never got a chance to see Comanche coming because the USSR collapsed right around the time the contract was awarded. Yes, these Comanches were going to be more awesome than poppin’ and lockin’ in day-glo legwarmers. By 1991, the program was off and running…ish. It only took three more years to award the contract to a combined Boeing-Sikorsky team. In 1988, after a mere six years of planning, the Army issued a Request For Proposal, inviting industry to join in the fun. Planning for the Comanche began in 1982, when Ronald Reagan was president, the Cold War was getting hot, the Soviet Union was fighting a war in Afghanistan against the US-supported mujahedeen, and the only man who could steal the USSR’s top-secret, Mach-6, thought-controlled MiG-31 Firefox was Clint Eastwood. The Army wanted to buy 1,200 of them, replacing older helos and bringing Army aviation into the 21st century. Its planned ferry range would even allow it to cross an ocean. This super-stealthy light attack helicopter, bristling with advanced sensors and communication gear, was going to perform loads of armed reconnaissance and surveillance missions. Follow Army’s RAH-66 Comanche helicopter was going to be totally awesome, dude.
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