Like the VIP 101 for the US Prez, this POS is simply some payback to Europe for terrorist support and to provide big $$ to improve their very marginal airframes. US $$ will fix aeverthing Europeon while the US Services get to work out and/or die from these poor designs. Bottom line? The 101 and this crowd-displeaser were simply POLITICAL buys and not on technical or airworthy merit.
Lets go back to the sub title of this piece:
New Army helicopters have heat flaw
And what is this flaw?
"We don't need air conditioning in the Blackhawks, so we didn't think it would be an issue" in the Lakota, McCuin said. "But when we got the helicopter into the desert, we realized it was a problem."
So in fact there is nothing wrong with the aircraft, they simply decided for some strange reason not to buy the optional extras required to operate in hot climates, and then proceeded to operate in hot climates.
Were there actually something
wrong with the aircraft, in that they didn't meet the specification laid down by the Army, then you can bet they'd be expecting Eurocopter to foot the bill. But they specified it wrong, which is their fault, leaving them with the bill.
The only difference between this case and if it had been a US supplier is that this is far to good an opportunity to stir up some xenophobia to miss.
How this relates to The War on Terror™, American Soldiers Dying For Their Country™ or the AW101 is beyond me. But then don't let facts get in the way of talking utter s***.