The Boeing-Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche is the most spectacular—and helpful—episode in the chronicle of U.S. military aviation. As a stealthy recon and light-attack copter, the Comanche would bring high-tech innovation, maneuverability, and virtual invisibility onto the field. Its ascension and abrupt cancellation serve as a sweet-and-bitter reminder of how the most visionary war projects are overwhelmed by changing events.
The Comanche project started in the early 1980s as part of the Army’s Light Helicopter Experimental (LHX) program to replace a generation of aging helicopters that comprised the UH-1 Huey, AH-1 Cobra, OH-6 Cayuse, and OH-58 Kiowa. The task was formidable: to build a stealthy reconnaissance and speed-of-light attack helicopter. Boeing and Sikorsky were awarded the contract in 1991 to design the RAH-66. The Army was to manufacture over 1,200 of the stealth helicopters, which could sneak undetected behind enemy lines.
Stealth was incorporated into the Comanche design. Radar waves were scattered by some of its fuselage, and detectability was minimized further by radar-absorbing material. Special infrared-suppressant paint minimized heat signatures, and the five-bladed composite main rotor and shrouded Fenestron tail rotor reduced noise and radar returns. Exhaust from the engine was ducted down the tail boom to cool the exhaust and render the Comanche far less visible. Its radar shadow was 100 times less visible, its infrared signature 15 times less detectable, and its sound six times quieter than similar helicopters. Paint and canopy were even reflection-suppressing.
Internally, the cockpit had the most modern avionics. Fly-by-wire flight replaced smooth control with mechanical linkages, and helmet-mounted displays projected sensor information into the pilot’s line of sight. GPS and terrain-following radar combined to provide low-altitude navigation, and the battlefield management system permitted crews to detect, target, and engage threats in real time. Sensors were forward-looking infrared, night vision, and millimeter-wave radar for day-and-night all-weather capability. The cabin also provided nuclear, biological, and chemical protection.
The helicopter’s firepower was as advanced as its technology. The retractable nose-mounted XM301 three-barrel 20mm rotary cannon could revolve freely in its retracted position without compromising stealth. Six AGM-114 Hellfires or twelve AIM-92 Stinger missiles were carried internally in bays and gave Comanche a streamlined profile.
Optional stub wings provided an upgrade contingency for additional firepower, eight Hellfires or sixteen Stingers, at the cost of stealth. Such a versatile configuration allowed the Comanche to readily alternate between weapons reconnaissance and close-support missions.
Despite its promise, the program was severely plagued. Merging all of these complex systems turned out to be many times more challenging and costly than expected. Technical problems and delays brutally inflated the price. In 2004, after $7 billion had already been spent and only two prototypes had been constructed, the program’s total price increased to a projected $14 billion, making the project even harder to defend.
The strategic environment itself changed. The closure of the Cold War made the need for Comanche-class stealth helicopters for high-end wars unnecessary, and new counterinsurgency operations brought about a need for rapid upgrades to existing helicopters, such as the Kiowa Warrior and Apache. At the same time, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) proved they could execute many of the Comanche’s mission tasks without putting pilots in harm’s way and at one-quarter the price.
With increasing spending, changing priorities, and the emergence of UAVs, the Army subsequently abandoned the program. Money was funneled into upgrading existing helicopters and researching drone technology. Though a disappointment to most, the move was a pragmatic response to defense planning.
But the Comanche’s impact did not fade. Its technologies—stealth shaping, composite material, digital flight controls, and sensor integration—have been transferred to other helicopters and unmanned systems. The two prototype originals still housed at the U.S. Army Aviation Museum in Alabama give one a reminder of the pressure and pull of high-end defense projects.
Ultimately, the RAH-66 Comanche was more than an ordinary helicopter. It was a product of vision for what could be when creativity, technology, and design are brought together. Though it never entered active duty, it marked its place in aviation and military technology and set the course for rotorcraft and unmanned systems to follow as well.
