On Oct 1, 2:46*pm, Daryl Hunt wrote:
On 10/1/2010 3:05 PM, wrote:



"The US Marine Corps has finally cleared
the Bell Helicopter AH-1Z Viper for operations,
only a few weeks ahead of a decision to
launch full-rate production.

Declared "operationally effective and suitable"
on 29 September, the AH-1Z programme can
close the book on a protracted, four-year
operational evaluation (OPEVAL) process
delayed by reliability and technical glitches."

See:

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles...usmc-declares-...

It's finally here! *Will this be the last of the
Cobra line? *Or will they start over again at
AH-1AA, AH-1BB........etc.? * *

A few years ago, I witnessed a mock fight between the New Apache
and the old AH-1U. *Short fight. *The Cobra ran rampant over the
Apache. *It's quicker, nimbler, smaller, etc.. and still packs
quite a whollop. *I think it was a mistake for the Army to rely
almost soley on the Apaches when a cheaper AH-1 can do pretty
much the same job. *Of course, they've asked the Apache to do
much more than it really should and have gotten off pretty lucky
a couple of times but it's going to bite them again.


Didn't the Army prefer the Apache because it's mast-mounted
radar allowed it to fire at tanks from behind hills and such?