The Army Aviation establishment had a fairly good handle on requirements and procurement for same in 1972; knowledge and common sense have been dropping steadily since then, at a geometric rate.
The aviation procurement process for DoD in general, and Army Aviation most particularly, is now oriented around politics, enrichment of manufacturers (two factors which go hand in hand), and unreality.
McClellan in the early days of the Civil War said America needed a dictator and while that proved untrue, I would opine that military procurement in America might benefit from a Soviet-style politburo handing down decisions to design bureaus.
The sorry facts as we see them are ample proof that, in this regard, "free enterprise" isn't working for much except to impoverish the taxpayers, enrich some corporations, and turn Army Aviation activities into an ill-equipped, indecisive, confused and antic parody of the Keystone Cops.