You have a point on the Apache, but the Navy bought plenty of SH-60’s and even MH-60S. The problem I have is the USMC cries that it gets Army’s leftovers and has no budget, but then always has to have their own special programs and weapon systems like:
AV-8B*
V-22
F-35B*
UH-1Y/AH-1Z
Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (cancelled)
MARPAT
HK M27’s for everyone!
*Great fit for their needs, but ultimately wherever they are, there’s probably a big deck carrier too.
Then when that stuff costs too much, they do something like say ‘oh, we’re an expeditionary force, we don’t need any armor after all’ and dump all of their Abrams.
The Seahawk was a variant of the Blackhawk, but there were a whole lot of changes to it. The Navy wrote their spec so that Sikorsky was in an excellent position to win the contract for the new LAMPS helo, but it was by no means a simple “get a blackhawk and paint it grey” proposition.
I earnestly believe the Navy uses the Marine Corp budget as a way to sock away a few billon dollars, that in the event of a serious funding shortfall they would yank from the USMC in a heart beat. At the moment the USMC has relevancy with a Pacific based conflict, they are amphibous after all, but if we go to land war in Europe I think the Marines will be the forgotten step children again.
And yeah total face palm after divesting all of their armor.
Well, kinda. They keep restricting amphibious operations every time an AAV sinks. Unsure whether the ACV works as intended right now, but I suspect that the readiness is less than we would hope.
It’s an unfortunate situation right now. I hope they have leadership in place to rectify it ASAP.
Agreed. Looking at those big tail feathers, I wonder how they are are going to maneuver in tight spaces. But I bet that they have less troops walking into tail rotors. It looks huge compared to the Black Hawk, but is purported to fit into the same footprint. One thing for sure, is that it’s a whole lot faster.
I was chatting with a Blackhawk guy yesterday (who btw seemed too young to drive). The defiant has everyone all agog in his unit. The V-280, not so much. Following his lead, I like it! But somehow I keep thinking “How To Train Your Dragon”…
Here’s a quick google-searched comparison, looks pretty close. Definitely agree that it looks bigger, and the height might be a problem aboard ships or for air transport. It’s a cool bird though, and I think presents a much less complex solution for vertical lift compared to the V22/V280 design.
Nice. I went back through the flight test highlights video and captured these. I’m thinking that Black Hawk in flat black would look really good in my driveway Wife, “Where are you going with that chainsaw honey?” Me, “I’m clearing an LZ.”
The cool thing about the UH-1Y and AH-1Z is that they share surprising number of parts. Which is great for the Marines as it must give them an efficient use of space and personnel.
Wife, “Where are you going with that chainsaw honey?” Me, “I’m clearing an LZ.”
