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Julien Demotes -Mainard Sciences Po Toulouse DAU, April 2012

RAH-66 Comanche: The Self- I nflicted Termination Exploring the Dynamics of Change in Weapons Procurement. Julien Demotes -Mainard Sciences Po Toulouse DAU, April 2012. An Unusual C ase of Program T ermination. Cancellation : Army decision 2004: the RAH-66 was – finally – on track

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Julien Demotes -Mainard Sciences Po Toulouse DAU, April 2012

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  1. RAH-66 Comanche: The Self-InflictedTerminationExploring the Dynamics of Change in WeaponsProcurement Julien Demotes-Mainard Sciences Po Toulouse DAU, April 2012

  2. An Unusual Case of Program Termination • Cancellation : Armydecision • 2004: the RAH-66 was – finally – on track • Few in the Army were reluctant to terminate it Stated Reason for Termination: • Restore the balance in the Aviation budget

  3. RemainingQuestion • How the program wentfrom a top prioritystatus down to a terminationnobodyseriouslyopposed in the Army? Approach and methodology • Decision-makingprocess (1983-2004) • Official documents and interviews

  4. AirLand Battle doctrine • A versatile airframe • LHX : consensus between the Aviation branch and the Armycivilian leadership “Humvee is a very good engine and chassis you can reconfigure; it can be an ambulance, it can be a truck, it can carry a machine gun, it can do a lot of things. Ambrose wanted a helicopter just like that.” (P. L. Francis, personal communication, November 18, 2010) The « FlyingHumvee »

  5. Western perception of an increasing Soviet threat • OSD’s choice for stealth […] in attack aircraft that would need to penetrate hostile airspace, there was an emerging consensus on the need to reduce the signature of the airplanes in every dimension, and stealth was a particularly salient element of that debate in the 1980s. (D. S. C. Chu, personal communication, June 27, 2011) The StealthRequirement

  6. Perestroika/Glasnost – Fall of the Berlin Wall: • Defense budget is dropping • LHX is coming under scrutiny Collapse of the USSR (1991): • Comanche’s development is streamlined LosingitsRationale

  7. Finding a New Roleinside the Army Twoissues for the RAH-66 : • Budget • Mission Program office/TRADOC strategy: • Buildflying prototypes • Increase Comanche’s ISR capabilities …but the initiative has conflictingeffects

  8. GWOT : a new kind of war • But up until 2003 Comanche remains secured (Objective Force) Change comeswithGen. Peter Schoomaker • Special Forces bring new operational perspective • The RAH-66 is terminated in February 2004 War on Terror: The Final Stroke

  9. Conclusion • Lack of a broad-based support, fluctuating commitment • The program was transformed into an ISR platform to secure an incontestable role within the Army • But Comanche’s constituency had remained fragile: after Shinseki departure, the subsequent merger of the Army’s and OSD’s operational perspectives killed the program • Service’s support for a given program can significantly change over time, and has to be examined in order to explain termination

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