Presidential Helicopter

1. I said partly - Gen. Cody mentioned the RF threat, and the Army has
yet to buy SIRFC for the Apache.

Apaches did very, very well in the fight for Baghdad and elsewhere in
OIF. And those people were using more than spitballs. Don't sell the
AH-64 short - there really is nothing to match it if it's used
properly.

2. You're right - that sounds like B.S. A foreign competition pulled
the same stunt requiring a cargo container just longer than the basic
H-92 cabin and just shorter than the cabin of the EH101. Wouldn't say
what was in it. Couldn't be repackaged. Had to go aboard.

You can always find an angle with which to rig a contest. I'm just not
sure why our military would want to play those games again for the
benefit of Agusta Westland. If the PRV competition is rigged, I would
hope for a Congressional investigation.

3. The HH-60 falls short only in that requirements (and loads) have
grown. If the fix is in for the US101, it indeed proves the Air Force
can be as stupid as the Navy. The same H-92 advantages apply -- new
generation flaw tolerance translates into ballistic tolerance. Two
engines will give you lower O&S costs than three. You can still put an
H-92 aboard a C-5 without taking big pieces off.

The NH90 is indeed a modern military helicopter. However, it is built
largely by two countries who hate our guts and apparently supported
Saddam Hussein. If politics have any role in defense procurement, the
French and Germans deserve to lose this one. If our White House is
determined to sacrifice our helicopter industry to make peace with
them, we've got real problems.

4. I'm not sure there was a lot of Comanche influence in the original
H-92 rotor system -- the broad-chord Black Hawk blade came from a
co-operative effort between the Army and Sikorsky and gave Sikorsky the
'92 blade. We'll see how much of the airfoils and tip work go on the
'76D.

5. Agreed, we are into this consolidatation frenzy and it is damaging
to the country. I do not understand US politicians and our own
aerospace companies when they cede whole market segments to foreign
competition. EADS is not going to develop a heavy lift helo for Europe
to have a free and open competition.

Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman seem to feel air vehicles
are beneath them. If they can buy a platform offshore and integrate
the systems - that's the higher calling. That is, until the US
government buys the code offshore. This insanity has to stop, but I
don't see anyone stopping it.

I would NEVER use UK MoD helicopter procurements as an example of how
to do anything.
The Royal Navy Merlin entered service 5 years late and 1.6 billion
pounds over budget -- the same team with roles reversed is building the
US Presidential helicopter.
The Royal Air Force bought Special Ops Chinooks it can't use 'cause it
can't figure out how to integrate the systems it thought it wanted.
The Royal Air Force has Apaches it can't fly 'cause it didn't get the
training system coordinated with deliveries of the real thing.

These are not examples you want to follow.

HW