Originally Posted by
noneofyourbusiness
What the Army wants, and what they can afford, are two different things. Buy some tilt-rotors for capability, and some upgraded Black Hawks for cost. Could also use modified Black Hawks to meet FARA, again based on cost.
The Huey H-1 was (and still is) far cheaper than the UH-60. Still due to realities in production cost and production rates, the only path was a clean break. The same was true when the USAF changed from the F-4 to the F-15. Which is why the USAF demanded MCAIR destroy the F-4 tooling.