Basic Information:
Series Designation: Boeing / Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche
Classification Type: Reconnaissance / Light Attack Helicopter
Contractor: Boeing / Sikorsky - USA
Country of Origin: United States
Initial Year of Service: 2004
Crew / Accommodations: 2
Armament:
Available Hardpoints: 4 (2 x internal bays; 2 x optional wing stubs)
Available Armament/ Munitions:
1 x 20mm Cannon
6 x Hellfire anti-tank missiles (held in two internal bays)
6 x Stinger air-to-air missiles (held in two internal bays)
4 x Hellfire anti-tank missiles (on optional external wing stubs)
8 x Stinger air-to-air missiles (on optional external wing stubs)
Performance:
Powerplant: 2 x LHTEC T800-LHT-801 turboshafts generating 1,563 shp each and driving a five blade main rotor with an eight blade fan-in-fin shrouded tail rotor.
Maximum Speed: 201 miles per hour | 324 kilometers per hour | 175 knots
Maximum Range: 1,382 miles (2,224 km)
Service Ceiling: 0 feet | 0 meters | 0.0 miles
Initial Rate of Climb: 895 ft/min (272.8 m/min)
Dimensions:
Length: 43.31 feet (13.20 meters)
Wingspan/Width: 0.00 feet (0.00 meters)
Height: 11.06 feet (3.37 meters)
Empty Weight: 20,503 pounds (9,300 kilograms)
MTOW: 12,359 pounds (5,606 kilograms)
Production Notes and History:
The RAH-66 Comanche helicopter was to be the next generation answer for the United States Army in replacing its aging series of UH-1, AH-1 Cobra, OH-6 and OH-58 Kiowa helicopters in full. The RAH-66 was designed as the world's first stealth helicopter and was classified as a light attack. The system was to operate fully-powered internal bays housing anti-armor and anti-air missiles and was to promote the use of stealth materials to further conceal it against enemy radar. Had it been produced, the RAH-66 would have been the world's most advanced combat helicopter in service with any army in any nation.
Developed from the LHX (Light Helicopter Experimental) program of the early 1980's, the design proposal produced by a Boeing/Sikorsky venture won out over Bell/McDonnell Douglas. First flights by prototype 1 were carried out in 1996 while the second prototype flew later that decade. The sharp lines were reminiscent of the design taken to the F-117 nighthawk stealth fighter and featured sharp angles and a low radar cross section.
The RAH-66 featured a large 5-blade composite main rotor system and a smaller tail rotor housed in a protective covering, similar to the French-based Gazelle systems. Internal weapons bays were intended from the beginning as was a retractable powered undercarriage. Optional stub wings allowed the system more flexibility in armament provision at the cost of a larger radar signature. Standard armament was a powered 20mm three barrel General Electric cannon in a Giat turret system. The pilot and copilot/gunner sat in a tandem-seat cockpit with good visibility.
Flight and control systems aboard the RAH-66 were of the state-of-the-art variety with helmet-mounted controls, sidestick cyclic controls, 3D map displays, fly-by-wire with a triple redundancy feature, FLIR and laser designation and the power Apache Longbow-based millimeter wave radar to boot.
On the hypothetical battlefield, the RAH-66 system would have supported battlefield combat by taking out enemy armor and aircraft at range. With the tracking power of the mighty Longbow and the nimbleness of the smaller systems like the OH-58 Kiowa, the RAH-66 helicopter would have been a welcomed addition to the modern and wireless battlefield. The RAH-66 Comanche never came to fruition, however, as the entire project was officially cancelled by the United States Army in the Spring of 2004 mostly due to budgetary cutbacks.
