[link|http://www.abovetopsecret.com/pages/comanche.html|Above Top Secret - Comanche]
[link|http://www.pogo.org/p/defense/da-040101-comanche.html|Pogo - Comanche]
The project was to build a stealth helicopter, pretty much a stealth version of the Apache. What they ended up with was a more expensive and less useful vehicle, one that still had numerous problems despite years of work. More over, against the targets the US is fighting now and will be fighting in the near future, the stealth ability is wasted money.

Jay

Over and over again the thing that wins is "good-enough" tech in overwhelming numbers and operated with sharp tactics. I get the feeling that the braintrust in the military saw too many "German secret weapon" movies.

History tends to follow that pattern, yes. The problem for the US during the cold war was that our foes where going to outnumber us by a good margin. The US was never going to be able to build as many tanks or field as many foot soldiers as Russia or China.

And keep in mind that the high tech unit theory has had some successes. Quite a few good fighters, the M1A1, and US submarines are products of the better technology at any cost theory.

The big problem is the inversion of that theory, where hyper expensive projects are pushed becuase they are expensive. Buisness and poltical backers push for projects to channel money where they want it, no matter the actual merits of the project. And the military is slow to cut a project that seemed like a good idea when it was started, even if it has shown no success at all.

Jay

[link|http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2004/02/23/rtr1272475.html|Forbes]

The U.S. Navy said on Monday it was awarding a $849 million contract to Boeing Co. and the Bell Helicopter unit of Textron Inc. for materials needed to make 11 V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft.

The Navy described the contract as an advanced acquisition contract for long-lead materials needed to make eight Lot 9 MV-22 and three CV-22 low rate initial production versions of the Osprey that can take off and land like a helicopter but also fly like a plane.

The work is expected to be completed in October 2007.

I think the Osprey is still a good idea, but this is a project that should not be going into production yet. They don't have the things working well enough yet, they are unreliable and dangerous.

Jay