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Agree 100% on no Army bombing from an FVL. USAF would scream and work to kill the program. I believe there is actually an agreement somewhere that states that Army rotorcraft may only carry guns or forward firing ordnance. If you look at the history of the AH-56, USAF didn't complain too much when it was described as only an escort for troop carrying helicopters. They started taking notice and complaining when it was also talked up as doing CAS, and they really went ballistic when some Army folks said that if you put the pusher prop into Beta, it could dive bomb. From that point on, USAF actively worked to kill it, and they might do the same here. In fact, that's one of my worries about the V-280. Proprotors forward, it looks a lot like a fixed wing airplane. I may be paranoid, but I fear the Army might decide that if they pursue that technology AF will fear it treads on their "roles and missions" and lobby against it, so Army won't give it a fair shot.
Agree 100% on no Army bombing from an FVL. USAF would scream and work to kill the program. I believe there is actually an agreement somewhere that states that Army rotorcraft may only carry guns or forward firing ordnance.
If you look at the history of the AH-56, USAF didn't complain too much when it was described as only an escort for troop carrying helicopters. They started taking notice and complaining when it was also talked up as doing CAS, and they really went ballistic when some Army folks said that if you put the pusher prop into Beta, it could dive bomb. From that point on, USAF actively worked to kill it, and they might do the same here. In fact, that's one of my worries about the V-280. Proprotors forward, it looks a lot like a fixed wing airplane. I may be paranoid, but I fear the Army might decide that if they pursue that technology AF will fear it treads on their "roles and missions" and lobby against it, so Army won't give it a fair shot.
