(Air Force Time) Backtalk: Simply the best

[unhappycamper]

Simply the best
By Don Hoover

If there is one lesson we have learned over 50 years of vertical lift operations, it is that flexibility and performance are the keystones of victory.

This is especially true in the conduct of combat search and rescue, where it is necessary to launch the most capable aircraft available into virtually any environment as quickly as possible to recover our most precious asset — our war fighters. Bottom line: The faster, farther and higher we can go with the right mission payload, the better positioned we are to fulfill our moral obligation to bring home the folks we send into harm’s way.

I have watched with dismay as the CSAR helicopter procurement process has been politicized and delayed by industry “partners” that tout their dedication to the cause. However, recent articles, which quote those partners boasting that the delay has strengthened their position to win the competition, were the last straw. It is unconscionable that they would delay this capability to our troops to better their position.

No matter what they do to develop their platforms — even at the risk of further program delays with unproven modifications — they will never be able to match the winner, the Boeing HH-47.

Having flown both single-rotor helicopters and the CH-47 Chinook in combat, I challenge anyone who has similar experience to contest the superiority of the tandem-rotor concept. The Chinook was designed to operate and be maintained in the harshest of conditions and it is again proving itself in combat today.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/community/opinion/airforce_backtalk_csar_081108/



uhc comment: Read all about the $15,000,000,000 CSAR program --> http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=259&topic_id=9468