Bushranger71: thanks for the response. While Huey II payload per mission is less than Blackhawk, I appreciate the clarification and cost (per flight hour) references.* If I can get my hands on current US Army cost per hour numbers, (and the basis for calculation) I'll see how they compare to what you cited. MH-60R is heavier and more expensive for a lot of reasons. In re your deployability concerns, certainly not in the ball park.
The crashworthiness criterion for utlity helicopters is a specification that also owed its genesis to lessons learned from Viet Nam operations. I am neutral on the topic: as aircrew, you want to be able to walk away from a controlled crash and not, like in the SH-2F, have things like the radar rack end up in your lap when you sit in the rear seat. The weight penalty has its own downside, of course. FWIW, a friend of mine walked away (actually swam away) from crashed SH-60 thanks in part to the crashworthy criterion of the S-70 series pilot seats ... and he still had back problems for years, thanks to that crash. Lacking that energy absorbtion capability, he'd have fed the fish instead.
Again, a most educational thread.
Getting there with the most capability per unit of cube & weight of tactical (or strategic) lift is a problem planners won't stop trying to optimize any time soon.
That rock keeps being rolled up the hill ...
* = looked at the numbers and I see the internal payload is very similar, depending upon how you arrive at "useful load" numbers. The major difference is external load bonus to the Blackhawk. Internal load is close enough, based on the stats offered for the Huey II and Blackhawk, to make the decision on economics an interesting one.