Helowriter wrote:
Of course the military and civil businesses are connected -- in the
design, engineering, and manufacturing technology. The military OH-6
gave Hughes/McD/MDHI a still-viable civil product line. The Sikorsky
HSS-2 launched the civil '61s. Take another look at the Eurocopter
military product line derived from their civil products -- their
military and civil business is now split about 50-50 thanks to
Puma/Cougar, Dauphin/Panther, etc.

If the commercial side of MHDI could never show a profit, the smart
thing to do was improve the bookeeping, not dump the product line and
deal yourself out of light helicopters. That's how Boeing got into this
position of buying back a shot at ARH.

HW

How many new OH-6s have been purchased in the last five years? The
European governments have had a vested interest in building up their
helicopter production capability for years and have been willing to
support it at any cost.

Straightening out the accounting was why the commercial side of MD was
given three years to turn a profit - they couldn't do it, even from a
clean slate. There were no military derivatives of any of the commercial
products that anyone was willing to buy. The U.S. Army had pinned its
hopes on Commanche and weren't about to go buy a passle of cheap
competitors to its sinkiing ship. Commanche was in enough hot water
without the Army asking someone to develop an alternative that Congress
could use against them.

The Europeans were buying militarized versions of their own civil
aircraft to reduce the red ink on their development. They certainly
weren't about to buy a bunch of militarized versions of MD commercial
helicopters. There was no market.

MDHI got a smokin' deal on the commercial business and still haven't
been able to make a go of it. I fail to see how holding on to a
money-losing operation with no potential for the future would be a smart
move. Sikorsky and Bell had most of the civil market wrapped up - MD was
a distant third, bleeding cash and losing steam.

Vygg