![]() While Sikorsky considered the S-75 was considered a veritable success, the Army still failed the aircraft as it exceeded certain weight limitations imposed. To assist with the introduction of all-composite airframes, the Army brought about a concurrent project, the Advanced Composite Airframe Program, that saw the creation of two experimental helos built overwhelmingly of composite materials like Kevlar and reinforced graphite/epoxy blends, the Sikorsky S-75 and the Bell D-292. Both were to be built of composites, reducing overall costs and weight. One, like the Huey, would fly as a multipurpose utility platform, while the other, like the Cobra, would fly as an attack/scout aircraft. Originally, the Army wanted two airframes that shared a great deal of commonality with parts with each other, exactly like the UH-1 and the AH-1, and to a limited extent, avionics compatibility with a different aircraft in development at the time… none other than Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor. It was time for the Army’s procurement gurus to start thinking outside the box. ![]() This new helos would conform to the emerging AirLand Battle Doctrine of the 1980s and would also allow for greater integration with ground and naval units. The brass in the Pentagon decided that it was time for a new helicopter that would consolidate the roles of the UH-1 Iroquois, the AH-1 and the OH-58 (utility, attack and scouting, respectively) into a set of two highly-capable airframes that could do virtually anything the Army asked of it, functioning as a Swiss Army Knife of sorts for the service. Additionally, with American involvement in the Vietnam conflict now long over, scores of Bell AH-1 Hue圜obras and OH-58 Kiowas were aging in Army squadrons, their roles slowly being encroached and undertaken by newer aircraft, especially the brand spanking new AH-64 in the attack role, which eventually completely replaced the AH-1. The review that brought about these findings also described the perceived inability of upper-echelon aviators in charge of such projects to think outside the box, always restricting their vehicle designs to be capable of fulfilling narrowed objectives. Prior to its initiation in the 1980s, the Army recognized a number of flaws in its process of outlining requirements for the aircraft (namely helicopters) that it wished to acquire. The program that birthed the Comanche was known as Light Helicopter Experimental (or LHX for short). Or, the RAH-66 Comanche, a stealth scout/attack helicopter that just never was meant to be. What do you get when you cross a Ferrari with an F-117 Nighthawk and a AH-1 Cobra?
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