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Army Cancels Comanche Helicopter Program NewsMax.com WiresWASHINGTON – The Army has decided to cancel its Comanche helicopter program, a multibillion-dollar project to build a new-generation chopper for armed reconnaissance missions, officials said Monday. The contractors for Comanche are Boeing Co. and Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. With about $8 billion already invested in the program, and the production line not yet started, the cancellation is one of the largest in the history of the Army. It follows the Pentagon's decision in 2002 to cancel the Crusader artillery program, against the wishes of Army leaders. Pentagon officials said a public announcement was planned for Monday afternoon. Loren Thompson, who follows aviation and other defense issues for Lexington Institute think tank, said he believed the Army under new chief of staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker favored ending the Comanche program, even though the service had been counting on it to provide a new reconnaissance capability. "The Bush administration has now killed the two biggest Army weapons programs it inherited from the Clinton administration," Thompson said, referring to the Crusader and Comanche. Earlier this year the White House budget office asked the Pentagon to provide independent reviews of the Comanche and another expensive aviation program, the Air Force's F/A-22 Raptor fighter. Although killing the Comanche project would save tens of billions in future costs, the decision is expected to require the Army to pay at least $2 billion in contract termination fees. The Comanche program was started in 1983 and had survived many reviews. Initial production was scheduled to begin in 2006.
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