"ROTORFRANK" wrote in message
...
Assuming Comanche money really stays in Army Aviation (yeah, right), I'd
expect
them to look for off-the-shelf twin-engined helicopters rather than fresh
starts.

"Yeah, right"? The DoD and president have already signed off on the Army's
plan to reorient the money already budgeted towards Comanche to other Army
aviation needs, haven't they?


The Agusta Westland A129 is a dedicated attack helicopter already
integrated
with Comanche T800 engines, but I suspect the end cost of a Mongoose with
US
systems would be up there with the Tiger. If they're going to go that
route,
they should buy the damn Comanche.

No way it would even approach the cost of Comanche. The weapons suite
already handles US ordnance (Hellfire, TOW 2, and Hydra 70), and some of the
systems are already of US origin (including Honeywell FLIR and helmet
mounted sighting system).


It is possible for one helicopter to do both the light attack and light
utility
missions. The question is how light is "light," and how much you want to
go
offshore. If the Army doesn't care about the US industrial base (The
Coast
Guard doesn't.), there are lots of foreign candidates.

Great as it is, I think the single-engined MD600/MH-6 Little Bird is too
small
for a lot of Guard missions. In addition to RAID anti-drug patrols, the
guard
has to move emergency response teams, and it will probably need secondary
medevac capability - that means you need a good-sized cabin.

Agreed. But I still think that purchasing two separate aircraft, one for the
OH role and one for the LUH role, would be the better option--it also allows
you to "spread the wealth" a bit.


With that in mind, the MDHI MD900 would be a good light utility
helicopter, and
one made largely in the US (albeit by a Dutch-owned company). NOTAR works
fine; it just wasn't right for the 160th.

The Bell 427 is a possibility, but it's uncomfortably close to the OH-58D
and
probably too light and confining for the Guard requirement.

The Agusta-Westland navel Super Lynx is already powered by Comanche
T800s, and
a Battlefield Lynx derivative with those engines and a domestic equipment
suite
could fill the bill.

The A109 is used for attack and utility missions, but a re-engined version
again seems expensive for what you'd get.

LTV once offered a T800-powered Dauphin as the Panther. That would give
you a
pretty expensive French helicopter that could probably do the job. But,
again,
it's French.

Sikorsky pitched an AUH-76 long ago and got nowhere. I suspect the Army
would
like something smaller, more crashworthy and cheaper to operate.

Likewise, the Bell 412 is old technology and brings with it high operating
costs for what you'd get.

Compared to the UH-60? And compared to the aircraft it would replace (the
UH-1H) it is rather cutting edge--twin engine performance, rigid rotor
mount, etc.

Brooks


The Agusta Bell AB139 and Bell UH-1Y I think are just too big and too
close to
the Black Hawk. I don't think there would be much incentive to buy either
one.


So, my choice would be the MD900, at least for the light utility
requirement.
You could hang the Little Bird weapons on it to make do with an armed
scout of
sorts.

Bear in mind, the Comanche started out filling these same requirements
with two
versions. Look at how well the Army handled that.

Frank