Now that I have had a chance to read the entire document and have had a little time to reflect on the issues outlined within, I do not see much different from similar issues that have played out on other programs around the world. ED is it mission creep that derails programs or is it just a case of the manufacturers promising more than they could possibly deliver? Over the last twenty years the helicopter industry has seen other programs with similar results. As an example, ten years after the Nordic Standard Helicopter Program decision was made some of the member countries have had to fall back on direct government procurement of off the shelf military aircraft to fill the gaps left by the standard program failures. One telling quote from this paper sums up the issue: “According to the Auditor General’s Office, the overall project risk was assessed to be “low to medium” because the Cy¬clone was considered to be non-developmental as it would be utilizing “off-the-shelf” technologies.
Transforming the S-92 into a military aircraft has turned out to be more difficult than anticipated.