Don't forget the article written 2 weeks ago about the US Army wanting to buy a new helicopter "to keep the US helicopter industry capable of designing new helicopters". A small scout helicopter makes sense as it would probably be the cheapest investment. Remember, that last US newly designed and built helicopter was designed in 1970. That would be the UH-60 and the AH-64 both. Everything since the 60A and 64A has been an upgrade to an existing platform. There was a good try with LHX, but there was not a good focus and it grew, the perceived threat went away, and it became unaffordable. 2 of the 3 mainstay's of the Special Operations Forces are developments of 1960s helicopters with only the UH-60 being much younger (10 years younger). I am really curious if US manufacturers have the ability to design from scratch, I know they do not have the willingness to bear the cost of development from scratch.