Army Kills Comanche Helicopter Program

FOX NEWS ^ | Monday, February 23, 2004 | AP

[BulletBobCo]

WASHINGTON

[SAMWolf]

Darn, it looked so cool!!

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

Take half of the money saved and build more smart bombs, MOABS and of course, thousands of next-generation cruise missles.

[KantianBurke]

What's the rationale behind the cancellation?

[Blood of Tyrants]

Twenty-one years between conception and now and it hasn't even gone into production? No wonder it costs so much! Sounds like this was a Pentagon jobs program for some of it's retired generals and colonels.

[TADSLOS]

Just received unofficial notice this am. I'm not surprised. The program was ripe for the axe. Cleaning out my desk this week and moving on to other things.

[buwaya]

I'm guessing unmanned systems would be cheaper and more effective for reconnaissance, looking down the road. The Marines are deploying mini-UAV's at the company level these days.

[Blood of Tyrants]

$8 BILLION dollars, 21 years, not in production YET. The Comanche sounds like a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

[TADSLOS]

Yeah, the Comanche marketeers are to be commended. Too bad it wasn't living up to the hype.

[BulletBobCo]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Defense Department is scrapping the multibillion-dollar RAH-66 Comanche helicopter program being developed by Boeing Co. (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and United Technologies Corp. (UTX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , government sources said on Monday.
Pentagon officials plan to announce the decision at a news conference at 4:30 p.m. (2130 GMT), the sources said.

The cancellation is part of the Pentagon's continuing drive to transform the U.S. military into a force better able to face modern threats, they said. The program was under intense scrutiny because of its hefty price tag.

The U.S. Army launched the Comanche armed scout helicopter program in 1983, and low-rate initial production of the craft was slated to begin in 2006.

The current estimated cost of the program, which has been in development for about two decades, was $38 billion, according to John Pike, director at GlobalSecurity.org, a defense policy research group.

U.S. lawmakers are expected to oppose ending the program. President Bush's fiscal 2005 budget included $1.2 billion for the Comanche.

Scrapping the program could result in termination fees of $2 billion to $4 billion being paid to Boeing and Sikorsky Aircraft, the United Technologies unit working on the Comanche, the sources said.

Matt Brothers, a spokesman for Sikorsky, asked to comment, said, "Our company's policy is not to respond to rumors. As far as we are concerned, the program is fully funded and on schedule."

Boeing officials said the Chicago-based company had not been informed of any program cancellation. "The Comanche program is on track and schedule. We have not been notified about any change in the program status," said Boeing spokesman John Morrocco.

[xrp]

Just like the F/A-22 program as well. Didn't Lockheed win with the X-22 design sometime in the early 1990s? I'm pretty sure I was still in high school. There's hardly any production on it.

[Rokke]

Wow.

[Blood of Tyrants]

I am always proud of the Marines. They do more with less money and materials than any other service.

[hchutch]

Dumb. We need some new chopper - those Kiowas and Cobras are way too old, IMHO.

[LibWhacker]

"The Bush administration has now killed the two biggest Army weapons programs it inherited from the Clinton administration,"

I'm sure that human piece of dog excrement gave all its secrets to the Chicoms and the Soviets anyway, so why build it?

[Darksheare]

The same as was behind the cancellation of Crusader.
Budgetary concerns, transporting it, and the idea of streamlining the military into smaller and supposedly more easily deployable units.

[Monty22]

I'm betting on UAV too, bigtime. That's why they suddenly did this.

Too bad too, it was an awesome platform to be.

[SAMWolf]

Looks like another DIVAD or Osprey project. All hype not much performance.

[xrp]

Too bad the Bush administration won't kill Social Security and Medicare -- or at least allow younger Americans to OPT OUT.

I can plan for my own damn future.

[TADSLOS]

The problem still exists, but the technology can be applied to cheaper systems that have already been fielded. You can buy alot of MD-530Fs for what one RAH-66 was going to cost (50M).