[Oztrich Boy]

"Usually that little bit of capability isn't used."

One of the requirements is to deploy a full platoon off the LPAs in one lift.

There are only two Heko operating spots on the aft deck. There is another spot on the foredeck, but tha is usually used to tote a couple of LCM(8)s

That rules out the 11 troop Blackhawk which needs 3 helos to meet the requirement.

The other contenders Aerospatiale Puma, Augusta/Westland Merlin, Sikorsky 92 and NH-90 could do it with two (the Merlin, one).

However the Puma, and the NH-90 (amd blackhawk) can also cross deck onto frigate helo pads. Puma and Blackhawk are old designs, while S-92 is so new Australia would virtullly be the launch customer.

ergo Eurocopter NH-90.

[donmeaker]

I presume that the folks making up the requirement knew what they were doing. They studied. I havent.

If you change the size of a platoon, you get a change to the requirements, or you get added capability that may, or may not be tactically useful. If you have an ability to quickly fold rotors, then you can, perhaps, get 3 choppers in a space that would usually only hold 2.

The cost of the bigger, more expensive helicopers is seen in every flight, and even now, before the first ever use, the customer is paying for the added capability.

The theoretical advantages of larger loads (say a 10 ton truck) compared to a smaller (say a 5 ton truck) are often compensated by tactical rigidity (with 2 end items you can only land in 2 places, with three, you can land in 3, leaving to greater dispersal, less vulnerability, and Lower average cost, considering that most pilot training will occur with the chopper completely empty.

Aircraft usage is, on one system I am familiar with, 80% pilot training, 13% exercises, and 7 % combat. This is a vastly different system, but it perhaps illustrates that you have to look at the entire system, and not put too much empasis on any single requirement.