So the new Cobra, I mean Viper, is more like the Apache?
Probably requires less maintainence time per flight hour though.
Couldn’t just buy Apache’s??
Cobras are cheaper to buy and cheaper to maintain and you can fit twice as many of them on a ship. The Apache is designed as a long-range tank killer. It is excellent at that. The Marines however use helos for Close Air Support. For the USMC mission the Cobras are a better choice. Plus the new one carries as much ordnance. On top of that there is parts commonality between the Cobras and the UH-1s the USMC uses for carrying troops. This means more bang for the buck and the USMC doesn’t have the money to throwaway like the Army does.
My guess is, they can pack more AH-1Zs onto a ship than they could AH-64Ds, plus I expect the Cobras are built to work in a salty marine environment (pardon the pun) and Apaches probably aren’t. Combine that with the parts commonality with the new Hueys allowing them to carry fewer types of spares, and it makes sense.
}:-)4
With a product sold to both the Army and Marines, which customer will get priority? With a product sold only to Marines, the producer BETTER keep the USMC happy.