[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.

[Rokke]

Wow.

[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?

[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.

[Tacis]

And, they are keeping the Osprey program? Each Osprey has to have a warning sign painted on it's underside to inform folks on the ground that they may have to dodge a plumeting scrap heap.

The program got in trouble after a series of crashes when some military types were discovered fudging numbers to make the aircraft look very much better than it was.

They have been exmining the aircraft very carefully for the past two years and, I believe, have finally discovered a way to fudge the numbers on performance that is almost foolproof.

[hopespringseternal]

Contractors love to turn these things into neverending stories. Look at the space station and many government programs. "Yes we can do it with a year of study" inevitably turns into a neverending stream of "we need another six months to one year."

Cost-plus contracting often winds up being a blank-check payoff to the industry.

[shadowman99]

Paul Sr. is going to kick junior's butt now. They already built the bike!

[JeeperFreeper]

The Marines still use the Cobras and Bell (Hueys) along with others for heavy lifting. Many have Vietnam era airframes. And the Marines still manage to close with and kill the enemy.(The Marines have their own boondoggle, the Osprey.)
The problem is Congress. National Guard soldiers have to go to a war zone without bullet-stopping SAPI(small arms protective inserts)plates for their flak vests, but the Pentagon spends billions on unneeeded weapons to sate the ambitions of a politicians hooked on pork.

[Teacher317]

Do we at least get the A-10 back then???

[antiRepublicrat]

Something doesn't add up:

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

and

The Comanche program was started in 1983

It would seem he just killed a project from the Reagan administration. IIRC, the Crusader was envisioned under GHW Bush and officially commenced under Clinton.

[avg_freeper]

!!! HAPPY NATIONAL ENGINEERS WEEK !!!!

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I guess Paul Tuetel Jr. will be bummed out after building that beautiful Commanche chopper on "American Chopper".

[Tribune7]

Curt's losing clout

[Psalm 73]

I say let the geriatrics buy their own Viagra and double the defense budget.......

[cynicom]

Lieberman says he is "outraged"..Tough, Joe.