Rising from the ashes of the 2004 cancellation of the RAH-66 Comanche stealth attack helicopter, the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter Program was intended to be a quick and easy replacement for the decrepit fleet of OH-58D Kiowa Warriors serving in the US Army’s Arsenal.
Derived from the commercial Bell 407 helicopter, a derivative of the earlier Bell 206 which forms a basis of the current OH-58D, the new ARH-70 was meant to be a simple conversion of an existing design to meet military requirements with minimal modifications.
The program, originally budgeted at $3.6 billion, has ballooned 40 percent to some $6.4 billion. Production of the troubled aircraft has also been delayed by two years from September 2008 to 2010.
Things came to a head on July 9, 2008 when the Army reported to Congress that the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter program had breached the 25 percent cost growth limit imposed by the Nunn-McCurdy statute, triggering a 60-day review of the program.
Most U.S. military helicopter programs since the Vietnam War have been saddled with one or more of three basic problems, the helicopter “doesn’t meet requirements or it cost too much, or is simply not realistic.”
The last completely successful US military helicopter program was the 1970s-vintage UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter.
Filed under: News | Tagged: ARH-70 helicopter, bell 206, bell 206 helicopter, bell 407, bell 407 helicopter, military news, model helicopters, OH-58D Kiowa Warriors, RAH-66 Comanche, rah-66 comanche model helicopter, stealth attack helicopter, UH-60 Blackhawk, UH-60 Blackhawk model helicopter, US Army, US Army’s New Helicopter
