Am baling out of this thread now, probably much to the relief of some. Sadly, I foresee the ADF becoming more or less operationally neutered through multiple ill-conceived hardware decisions and this will become progressively more obvious in the helo sphere.
But post #36 warrants some final response as you are way off track again Emergov.
If doors off and reacher are snivelling lackeys and probably in bed with Eurocopter, then why isn't anyone accusing BR71 of being a Bell / Textron plant, trolling for business for his re-engineered Hueys?
I have nil involvement with the aircraft industry and any information I have offered regarding the Huey II was conveyed to me at my request by a former AAAvn airframe driver who is a Bell Helicopter representative.
The reason the Black Hawk exists is because of the lessons learnt and the vulnerabilities discovered in the Huey, arising from Vietnam. MRH90 / NH90 is a newer take on this twin turbine, AFCS, crashworthy, very powerful style of aircraft.
You seem brainwashed or are very susceptible to manufacturer propaganda re the Blackhawk and MRH90 so consider this wisdom from a comprehensive US Army analysis of Vietnam War operations:
‘The (US) Army's decision to standardize on a utility tactical transport helicopter has far-reaching implications on every operation from its planning to its execution. Literally hundreds of our key battles could not have been fought without a light, agile machine that could go into improbable landing zones at a critical time. Had the Army chosen to build its airmobile tactics around a ‘platoon carrier’, different and less flexible tactics would have been forced on our commanders. As we move to replace the Huey fleet, we must never lose sight of the essential characteristics that made the Huey invaluable to the Infantry commander. Technology offers so many tempting alternatives that one can easily forget the basic problems of squad tactics. The vital lessons whichwe learned in the ‘sizing’ of our helicopter fleet dare not be forgotten.’ – Lieutenant General John J. Tolson
Blackhawk and MRH90 are not light and agile being roughly twice as heavy as the Huey II, between 10 and 20 times more expensive to purchase (depending on cost sources referenced) and at least 4 times more costly to operate. And, the Huey II is superior in hot and high performance.
See also my post #164 on the 'Why no helo transport thread?...' thread regarding Iroquois battlefield survivability and crashworthiness.
Everybody loves the Huey, but no-one really wants to take it to war. They built over 10,000 of them, and there are not many left around.
I am sure the RAAF would he willing to take the Huey II to war, if they still had a couple of squadrons.
At Year 2007, there were still around 5,000 Iroquois versions in service around the world with UH-1Y now in production and Huey II upgrades nearing 200. Long supportability is envisaged due to commonality of components with commercial versions. The USAF ordered 24 Huey II in 2005 with a glass cockpit option and also recently snapped up the last 6 Hotel model Hueys discarded by the US Army, presumably for upgrading to Huey II.
Better to stick to facts in forums.
Au revoir.