TCU,
I tend to agree. I am curious about the 60M and am pursuing that. If classified I won't receive an answer to my inquiry. Too early for 53K blade specimens to be available anyway.
The thread had asked a question about the Army and the V-22. I'd guess hover payload is uppermost in the Army's mind, so they must be quite happy with the 47F. Certainly that hover chart included in the Bell.Boeing document on this thread, coupled with the V-22 empty weight getting to about 35K with the defensive gun, makes for a notable difference in hover payload between the two.
Update on 8/17: Received confirmation citing the unclassified (but SA proprietary) engineering report that the 60M had completed and passed the requisite 23mm testing: took the required number of hits while loaded, inboard and outboard blade specimens, at requisite shot angles and then completed the requisite fatigue test under the flight loads to confirm survivability.
Thanks,
John Dixson