Why not ipgrade to the common standard? The AH64 Apache? Commonality and leading edge tech, so why buy another (legacy type) airframe?
Is the rift between Big Green and Corps so deep and wide?
If the USMC is interested in firepower survivability and lethality, the 64 covers that niche well- if they don’t want all the bells and whistles ( long bow stuff) then a base 64 with guns and rockets and missiles would be cheaper than building a new platform, no?
Edumacate me.... Is the 64 too much bird, too costly, too capable for the MAGTF/MEF?
Apache has had some horrific problems operating in an marine (as in ocean) environment, for starters. The AH-64A was evaluated in a naval role by multiple countries including the UK, Canada and Japan as well as the US. While the US program was cut short by lack of funding, none of the other countries found the chopper held up well in a seaborne environment and scrapped the idea.
The AH-64D version has had some interest in trying it again - the US has trialed it on multiple Navy ships in 2013 and the Brits flew them off HMS Ocean in 2011 during their operations in Libya, but again nobody seems to think this would be a good idea long term. The Brit version that’s built under license/from kits is even navalized and has folding rotor blades for use and storage on RN vessels, but that hasn’t worked out that well in practice.
Another issue is logistics - the Viper has commonality with the current Huey variant in service today (which itself is recent) and a lot of other USMC rotorcraft. Less parts to stock or haul around.