The Comanche Helicopter Program - Research Paper

Summary of the System

The United States involvement in wars prompted its aviation department to consider the acquisition of helicopters that proved to be efficient in the line of duty and fight. The Comanche Helicopter Program thus was initiated as the preferred platform to facilitate for the acquisition of the Comanche Helicopters and have them categorized among the Light Helicopter Family (LHX). In essence, this program was set to enable the United States to acquire affordable helicopters that had the required power and capacity to service the United States Army as they faced the enemy during the Vietnam War period (Werthman, 2007). Ideally, the Comanche Helicopter was to be the preferred aircraft that would be effective in combat against the enemy and provide the United States with an added advantage. However, the attack aircraft based on light observation showed to be incapable of defeating future Cold War threats in the 1990s.

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While the initial cost of the helicopters at the beginning of the program was to be at $5 million per helicopter, administrative delays and lack of consistency soon resulted in the cost price to hike to 4.5 times the initial cost (Werthman, 2007). Further, the performance analysis of the program was poorly done with the focus being placed on producing or acquiring more of the Comanche helicopters as opposed to understanding that the aircraft needed more airframes to be able to meet the expectations of the army. Practically, the Comanche Helicopter did not serve the purpose it was intended to (Werthman, 2007). This was because, following the administrative delays in approving the program and getting it started, the Vietnam War passed and the Comanche Helicopters were not of much assistance because they were susceptible to attacks from weapons that were as old as the Vietnam War even in the 1990s. Severally, the Comanche Helicopters had been attacked with simple weapons, and the aircraft had rendered the safety of the American troops to be in danger and thus vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy as in the case of the American forces in Somalia, Desert One and Afghanistan (Werthman, 2007). The aircraft in these missions was a point of vulnerability for the American troops and the Army's failure to acknowledge the deficiency and ineffective nature of the plane, continued to persist on the use of the Comanche Helicopter for two more decades before the program came to a stop.

The poor performance analysis of the Comanche Helicopter program primarily led to the failure of the entire system. This was such that, even after 22 years, six plans restructuring and spending close to $7 billion in the purchase of the helicopters, their significance was still ruled out by the fact that, the nature and structure of the Comanche Helicopters were slowly being replaced by modern technology (Werthman, 2007). The efficiency of the aircraft was going down as preference was shifting within the American Aviation. The airframes of the Comanche Helicopter also proved to be inefficient for the activities that they were bound to engage. The Comanche Helicopter program was soon halted following the lack of consistency and the fact that the Army had failed to consider thinking critically about the nature of the program. Rather than taking lessons from the Vietnam War and using the period as a point of reference to correct any loopholes, the American Army failed and continued to advance with the same structures and airframes of the aircraft even with the changing technologies. Eventually, it was found that the Comanche Helicopter program was not sufficient to meet the demands and expectations in the Great War against Terror.

The System Used to Conduct the System

The Comanche Helicopter Program was ideally set up to develop and come up with better fleets of helicopters that may be used in the wake of war. Ideally, the initial fleet had several deficiencies which in many ways jeopardized and rendered the American troops to be vulnerable during their missions. The initiation of the RAH-66 Comanche Helicopter Program thus was as a means of improving the situation that the American Army Aviation was facing due to the failing fleet of aircraft. The Comanche Helicopter Program ideally was to go through the Congress to be approved and therefore proceed with purchases and related activities associated with improving the fleet (Werthman, 2007). The reports from the General Accounting Office were a clear indication that the Comanche Helicopter Program was suffering some severe defects and aside from the high costs, the program was scheduled for critical applications. Practically, the system that was set in place to conduct the Comanche Helicopter Program was one that was not well thought through. In essence, the program was affected by the lack of consistency and accuracy in the execution of the entire program.

The system conducting the program was faulty, and thus the program had to be shut down after two decades of failed operations following poor administration of the program and execution of the program. The entire system primarily was unable to take note of past experiences and use the same to improve the RAH-66 Comanche Helicopter (Werthman, 2007). The Program in essence despite having been established and initiated with the aim of improving the Army Aviation fleet of helicopters still did not manage to execute the program accordingly after two decades. The system set to conduct the program was further not financially feasible as the system ended up spending more money than was anticipated for a program that was eventually called off.

Pros and Cons, What Should Have Been Done Better?

The Comanche Helicopter Program was initiated with the purpose of improving the Army Aviation systems and aircrafts available for missions. The planes as per the program would be able to secure the well-being of the troops when they are sent out on missions as opposed to previous fleets that had been used for the same purpose. Therefore, the program had some strengths that rendered it a necessary factor in improving the Army Aviation of the United States. Mainly, the Comanche Helicopter Program was set to enhance speed, visibility, availability, and maintainability of the helicopters to be used in the missions and war periods (Werthman, 2007). This was an improvement from the initial fleet that suffered deficiencies that risked the lives and welfare of the American troops. Secondly, the program was aimed at providing helicopters that were capable of low observations and hence could stealth around the enemies' camp without much notice or causing alarm (Werthman, 2007). This was an advantage as the American troops thus could conveniently carry out their responsibilities without their enemies being aware. Third, the program was brought to use aircraft that could go for long distances without refueling. The program was cost-efficient to the point of fuel consumption and assuring the troops of having to perform their tasks in short periods.

Among the most important advantages to the Comanche Helicopter Program was the integration of the aircraft with advanced technologies that better equipped the teams to observe and gain digital information on the enemy formations (Werthman, 2007). The program, in essence, had put in place all positive measures that would suffice to ensure that the Army Aviation had secured the best aircraft for their missions and in turn, the American Army would be able to face their enemies with better equipped and technical facilities. Further, the program had the support of the Army and therefore was backed up with sufficient reasons and evidence to advance the necessity of the program.

Despite the pros of the program, it still suffered some disadvantages that eventually led to its eventual shutdown. First, the existing fleets were both obsolete and incapable of performing any wartime reconnaissance tasks. This was witnessed in the various reports where the Comanche Helicopters were used in missions in Afghanistan, Somalia, Kosovo and even Desert One. These aircraft lacked the required capacity to be able to conveniently and sufficiently embark on wartime tasks (Werthman, 2007). Simple weapons could easily destroy and tamper with the systems of the helicopters to the detriment of the troops that were using them. Secondly, despite the program's insistence over the improvements that were associated with the Comanche Helicopters, they still suffered from the limited night and adverse weather capabilities. In essence, the helicopters were still not favorable to use in adverse conditions. Thirdly, the Comanche helicopters had several independent setbacks such as the little to no payload, the inability to self-deploy and no air to air capability (Werthman, 2007). However, one independent deficiency was the fact that it had reduced survivability. Hence, these helicopters could not survive modern war zones. The disadvantages with the aircraft were further enhanced by the demerits of the administration.

Fourthly, the administration involved with the program, the American Army Aviation, still made delays in the development of the program which in turn led to the reduction of the number of aircraft that would be acquired for the program. The delays further directed to the program to be rather costly. As such, when the program was first proposed, the cost of one helicopter was deemed to be at $5 million yet, with the delays between the Army Aviation and the Congress, the price of the helicopters increased to 4.5 times more per unit purchased (Werthman, 2007). Fifthly, the entire program was not well executed as it failed to consider improving the airframes of the aircraft to make them more plausible for modern wartimes. On the contrary, the Army Aviation maintained the same approach throughout and after 22 years and six reconstructions; the program failed and was shut down.

The Comanche Helicopter Program was one that would have been fruitful if the administration involved had practiced due diligence. This is such that, a proper feasibility study of the program and a clear plan of execution had not been put down. Therefore, the United States Army Aviation was moving blindly with the aim of being better than its rivals. Germany was already posing as a challenge with their various uses of the helicopters. Therefore, it was as though the United States was working to be better than its rivals but failing in ensuring that the program was executed in a manner that the future was considered. Hence, due consideration of the future and better planning of the program would have made the Comanche Helicopter Program to be more practical and therefore lived out to achieve its goals in the long term. The delays should also have been minimized to avert the cost inflation resulting in billions of dollars being wasted in a canceled program that barely took off to achieve its intended purpose in the American Army Aviation.

Cancellation Phase and Benefits Recovered

The cancellation of the program was primarily based on performance analysis and perceived battle threats. This is such that, there was little to no consideration of how the program would fit in future circumstances concerning changes in battle threats as well as advanced technology. Typically, the program was designed and perceived to be beneficial to the period in which it was supposed to serve. However, even in this regard, the delays that were caused rendered it unnecessary to use the aircraft as the war had already ended. Nonetheless, there had been minimal considerations made to how the program would fair in different case scenarios and timeframes.

The cancellation phase was deemed by the Chief of the Staff at the time to be the easiest decision. Primarily, this would be based on the overall poor performance of the program f...