U.S. Army confirms scrapping Comanche helicopter
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WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Army will scrap the Comanche helicopter being developed by Boeing Co. (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and United Technologies Corp. (UTX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , shifting $14.6 billion into other aircraft programs through 2011, acting Army Secretary Les Brownlee said on Monday.
Brownlee said the money would be used to buy 800 other aircraft, upgrade 1,400 existing helicopters and accelerate work on unmanned aerial vehicles.
http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?type=hotStocksNews&storyID=4418899 -
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Defense Department is scrapping the multibillion-dollar RAH-66 Comanche helicopter program being developed by Boeing Co. and United Technologies Corp., government sources said Monday.
Pentagon officials plan to announce the decision at a news conference at 4:30 p.m. (2130 GMT), the sources said.
The project cancellation is part of the Pentagon's drive to transform the U.S. military into a force better able to face modern threats, they said. The Comanche program was under intense scrutiny because of its hefty price tag.
The Army launched the Comanche armed scout helicopter project in 1983; low-rate initial production of the craft was slated to begin in 2006.
The current estimated cost of the program was $38 billion, according to John Pike, director at GlobalSecurity.org, a defense policy research group.
U.S. lawmakers are expected to oppose ending the program. President Bush's fiscal 2005 budget included $1.2 billion for the Comanche.
Scrapping the program could result in termination fees of $2 billion to $4 billion being paid to Boeing and Sikorsky Aircraft, the United Technologies unit working on the Comanche, the sources said.
Matt Brothers, a spokesman for Sikorsky, asked to comment, said, "Our company's policy is not to respond to rumors. As far as we are concerned, the program is fully funded and on schedule."
Boeing officials said the Chicago-based company had not been informed of any program cancellation. "The Comanche program is on track and schedule. We have not been notified about any change in the program status," said Boeing spokesman John Morrocco.
Shares of both companies were sharply lower at midday.
PROGRAM HAS BEEN CONTROVERSIAL
Eric Miller at Project for Government Oversight, a government watchdog group, said ending the program was a good idea.
"It's just been such a disaster, the whole program," he said. It has been restructured at least five times since its inception, he said.
"The technology was so advanced that (Boeing and Sikorsky) couldn't meet the requirements," he said.
Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst at the Virginia-based Teal Group, said cancellation of the program would be bad news for Connecticut-based Sikorsky.
"For Sikorsky, it's a big blow," he said. "It could hurt their anticipated future revenue stream and puts them in a weakened negotiating position if there's ever any kind of industry restructuring."
He said Boeing, on the other hand, could benefit because the company builds the Army's Apache helicopter.
"Boeing has a great fall-back position because if the Army doesn't get Comanches, they'll fully fund Apaches," he said.
Boeing had a 100 percent stake in Apache, compared to just 50 percent of the Comanche program.
Boeing shares were down $1.14 at $43.2O in midday trade on the New York Stock Exchange, while United Technologies shares were off $3.67 at $92.95. -
there was alot of talk recently on awst regarding the ability of comanche to survive in a future war, there is no money to upgrade its defense systems to the lastest standards and the current ones installed are insufficient and there are questions raised after the recent gulf war. another article quoted an israeli as saying that israel will give up on armed attack helicopters and switch to armed uav from their west bank experiences. the apache was too expensive at $35mil and a uav will cost $20 mil less. the predator b carry 6 times the load of an apache and has the ability to stay longer in the air, plus its cheaper to maintain and there is no need to spend money training air crews to fly it.
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also heard that our apaches will be deployed as 'interceptors' to intercept slow flying aircraft after the recent case where 2 a-4s were sent to intercept a bonnaza. heard that everytime the a-4 tried to approach to initiate contact, the pilot just turn away from it and the a-4 pilot was struggling from stalling as the stalling speed was 120kts. apaches will not have this problem and with just its cannon, its sufficient to shoot down any light aircraft if the need arise.
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they're scrapping it???
but thats a nice chopper! -
quote from Acting Secretary of the Army Les Brownlee
“We have examined closely our resourcing plans for aviation and concluded that some of the capabilities those funds would provide are longer consistent with the changed operating environment,” Brownlee said.
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what;s the speed of the apache vis a vis propeller planes? Interesting idea to use choppers to intercept this type of low-speed "threats" given the unconventionality of today's terrorist actions. But apache is quite an overkill though. The squirrels or any other UH with big guns/rockets should do fine.
The Comanche was a great looking machine. But with alternatives like the UAV, it does really look like an overly expensive option. U would rather drive to the grocery store with a toyota rather than a porche. Functional, utilitarian, cost effective. today's buzzwords. -
Its a pity that the Commanche is scrapped, I am actually looking forward to it.
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wasted sia. US like to do dis kinda thing wan...i dun understand. sink billions of dollars into a project just to scrap it later. mayb its just me, or its just Bush....
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This is Official as reported on 24 Feb (SGT) by CNN
Army cancels Comanche helicopter
Will shift money into other aviation programs
Monday, February 23, 2004 Posted: 8:35 PM EST (0135 GMT)
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/02/23/helicopter.cancel/index.html
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Source : Janes Defences Weekly
US Army Axes Comanche Programme
By Joshua Kucera JDW Staff Reporter
and
Andrew Koch Washington Bureau Chief
Washington, DC
The US Army has abandoned the multi-billion dollar RAH-66 Comanche reconnaissance helicopter programme, saying that the system was too vulnerable to anti-aircraft threats and did not fit with future army plans. Funding earmarked for it will be better spent on buying existing helicopter models, upgrading old aircraft and starting an entirely new armed reconnaissance helicopter programme, senior army officials said at a Pentagon briefing Monday.
Dropping the Comanche will save $14.6 billion over Fiscal Years 2004-2011, said acting Secretary of the Army Les Brownlee, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker and Lt Gen Richard Cody, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations.
That money would have bought 121 Comanches and will now be used for 796 new helicopters and upgrading 1,400 more. "This is an army initiative," Schoomaker said. "It's not just about terminating Comanche," but part of a larger restructure.
The officials said the army will now start to plan an entirely new reconnaissance aircraft as a replacement for the OH-58 Kiowa.
The army also plans to buy a new version of the AH-64 Apache, known as Block III. Army officials Monday said this version will have all the advantages of the Comanche except stealthiness. The army will also:
* accelerate the fielding of Aircraft Survivability Equipment technology to forces in Iraq and Afghanistan,
* buy 303 new light utility helicopters to replace 422 UH-1 Hueys, which will be phased out,
* buy 80 additional UH-60L Black Hawk utility helicopters above what had already been planned,
* buy 25 new fixed-wing C-XX inter-theatre cargo planes to replace the C-23 Sherpa,
* buy 20 CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters above what had already been planned,
* fund a joint heavy-lift helicopter programme to replace all the army's cargo and heavy-lift helicopters by 2020, and
* fund new plans for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The army has spent $6.9 billion to date on Comanche, and over the life of the programme would have had to spend a total of $39 billion to buy 650, Cody said. The army will have to pay $450-680 million in termination fees to the Comanche's contractors, primarily Boeing and Sikorsky, said Asst. Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Claude Bolton.
The RAH-66's demise has long been predicted. The US, facing a burgeoning budget deficit, is expected to cut some defense programmes and Comanche's large slice of the pie had been thought to be particularly vulnerable.
Schoomaker ordered an aviation task force six months ago to examine all aspects of army aviation, including the Comanche, as part of an effort dramatically transform the army to a lighter, more modular force. The decision to cut the Comanche programme came out of this group, the officials said Monday.
The Comanche was intended to be a light reconnaissance helicopter with stealth capabilities. But advances in UAVs have suggested that they might do that job better, while simple rocket-propelled grenade and missile attacks on US helicopters in Iraq have shown that the Comanche's stealthiness would not be as useful as it was thought at the 1983 inception of the programme, when it was designed to face Soviet air defense systems.
However, army officials were until recently saying publicly that they were committed to the Comanche.
Gen. Richard Cody, deputy chief of staff for the army, took a Comanche for a test drive in December. In January, he called it "the best aircraft we've ever built ... We now have an aircraft with no limitations except the pilot."
Low-rate initial production was to have started in 2006. -
Very painful, but I think that this move is correct. Its waaaay overdue and more importantly, is too costly. Its true that UAVs are able to do its job just as well at a fraction of its cost, while in all probability being just as survivable when given rudimentary survivability measures (such as sound dampening, limited radar/ir supression measures). But their armed forces will have to do something about their funds prioritising, seriously.
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is there a possibility tat there is a new type of hover technology being developed?