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But as later occurred with the F-35, the Comanche incorporated so many brand-new technologies that developing, debugging and integrating nearly tripled development costs over time. In January 1996 a RAH-66 prototype finally made its first flight and a second prototype joined it three years later. In 1999 a videogame was even released pitting the much-anticipated scout helicopter against the equally nimble Russian Ka-52 Hokum attack helicopter. The chopper’s triple-redundant fly-by-wire flight control kept it stable even while undertaking tight maneuvers. The Comanche was also the ultimate “dog-fighting” helicopter-with an impressive maximum speed of two-hundred miles per hour, the agility to pull off tight turns and near loop-de-loops, and capacity for twelve AIM-92 Stinger heat-seeking anti-aircraft missiles. Should firepower take precedence over stealth, the RAH-66 could fit wing-stubs allowing it to more than double its weapons load. Even the scout chopper’s landing gear and chin-mounted triple-barrel 20-millimeter XM301 Gatling cannon were designed to retract inwards. Like a stealth fighter, the Comanche could carry up to six Hellfire anti-tank missiles in internal weapons bays so that the protruding weapons didn’t increase its radar signature. Should it be detected, the Comanche was further shielded by radar warning systems, self-defense jammers, chaff and flare dispensers, and enough Kevlar and graphite armor to withstand heavy machine-gun rounds and 23-millimeter shells.Ī pilot and weapon-systems officers sat in a tandem arrangement, operating the helicopter with special helmet-mounted sights and liquid-crystal multi-function displays. Even the five downward-canted blades atop the Comanche’s top rotor were designed to produce half as much noise as a regular helicopter. Still, the Army wanted a more survivable scout helicopter to combat the Soviet Union’s huge mechanized armies, which were well protected by self-propelled short-range anti-aircraft missiles and rapid-firing flak cannons.Ī heat-dispersing scheme channeled hot exhaust into the tail for cooling by the shrouded tail fan and used infrared-dampening paint to reduce the scout chopper’s heat signature to one-quarter of normal.

However, they also were suitable for attacking lightly defended targets with rocket pods, miniguns, and even tank-busting TOW or Hellfire missiles, while armored Apache gunships tackled heavier foes. Scout helicopters were primarily tasked with spying out enemy positions and designating them for attack by friendly forces. Among other objectives, this program sought a replacement for the Army’s OH-58 Kiowa and OH-6 Cayuse scout helicopters, which were derived from the civilian Bell 206 JetRanger and Hughes 500 choppers.

The Comanche sprang of by the Army’s Light Helicopter Experimental program conceived during the defending spending glut of the 1980s. The slick-looking stealth helicopter spent twenty-two years in development, consuming over $7 billion dollars before being abruptly canceled with only two flying prototypes to show for it. While the F-35 stealth fighter might come to mind today, in 2004 the most timely answer might have been the RAH-66 Comanche. military aircraft has a stealthy radar cross-section and advanced networked sensors but has gone billions over budget and has fallen years behind schedule?