The Army aviator who helped kill the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter – a $40 billion program to build 650 scout choppers that was put out of its misery in 2004 after the Pentagon spent $8 billion for zero operational aircraft — has died.
The Washington Post reported Sunday that retired Colonel Robert McDaniel died Feb. 9 at the age of 88 (it also reported that the two-seat RAH-66 was designed to replace the 14-seat UH-1 Huey, but the obit otherwise looks solid).
McDaniel became an “early and persistent critic” of the Comanche, the Post said, calling it “unnecessary, poorly designed and ill-suited for almost any kind of warfare.”
Thank God that’s no longer the standard.
Godspeed, Colonel McDaniel.