Future battlefield reconnaissance helicopters
Now that It seems the US army is to be building the new 'F' model of the OH-58 Kiowa, and the British army already has Wildcat lined up for the battlefield reconnaissance role, I was wondering whether there was any merit in moving the sensor ball from on top to a the Underneath/Nose.
Considering these aircraft were designed for the battles of 'yesterday', is there any genuine need to have them in Afghanistan, and, more importantly, is there any real great value to be added by placing the sensor ball underneath? If a situation did come up where these helicopters were needed for their original purpose, they wouldn't be able to function anywhere near as effectively, at least not for very long...
Is this an expensive way to fix a problem that isn't really a problem? Is there a real issue with field of view with a mast mounted sight in Afghanistan?