In our part of the world, only Turkey took Super Cobras: the Arms that took anti-armour rotors took the Agusta, or Eurocopter, or (MDC) Boeing products.
AAC's replacement for TOW/Lynx was a protracted procurement...confused by issues not related to any simple measure of compliance with a Requirement.
1983: BAOR is equipped with TOW/Lynx AH.1. Tactics evolve.
1985: Westland is essentially bankrupt. In no position to take on a new anti-armour project - at all, let alone in parallel with a Heavy and a Medium Lift transport - both subject of budgeted RAF Requirements. Army Air Corps settles for Lynx AH.7, most to be sourced by mod. of AH.1, and buys time (deployed from 1988). Industrial politics - "the Westland Affair" - centre on Merlin, Blackhawk, Chinook. Ownership of Westlands settles with GKN (10/88: 22%; 4/94: 100%).
Berlin Wall comes down; 21/11/90: End of the Cold War; all theatre nukes out from BAOR, 6/92, from RAFG mid-1995. New paradigm. AAC starts the Requirements process for (to be Hellfire/Apache Longbow). 1994 Bidders are:
AH-1W CobraVenom, by GEC (Yes, really!);
Denel Rooivalk, by Marshall Aerospace;
EC665 Tigre, by BAe.;
MDC AH-64A, by GKN-Westland and Short;
A129 Mangusta, by Agusta (a Euro JV, Joint European Helicopter, for this as TONAL, 38% WHL, had lapsed in 1990).
AH-64A was deployed in US Army, 1/85. WAH-64 was awarded 7/95, like no other Apache and would be stated to be operational, 6/2005. The reasons for creating this distinct device (Short workshare, French/Brit. engine...) all seemed good to honourable gentlemen at the time...but we have not repeated that since: Off the Shelf now means...just that (see MFTS).
Last edited by tornadoken; 15th Feb 2016 at 16:50.