Should the Army have gotten rid of the OH-58D "Kiowa" Helicopter?

2016-01-11T17:57:23-05:00

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 11 at 2016 5:57 PM

2016-01-11T17:57:55-05:00

Only time will tell

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 11 at 2016 6:40 PM

2016-01-11T18:40:40-05:00

The KW was a great aircraft that held its own despite being underpowered and overworked. I feel the loss of the 58 is a loss to aviation as a whole. The war in Iraq showed that the Kiowa was more effective in an urban setting than the much larger Apache. I love my airframe but there are things it does well, and there are things that other aircraft do well. The 58 had its place in the mission set, but without a power plant/drivetrain upgrade and slimming of the overal airframe, it was doomed.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 11 at 2016 8:17 PM

2016-01-11T20:17:47-05:00

absolutely not that thing is awesome !!

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Jan 11 at 2016 9:59 PM

2016-01-11T21:59:59-05:00

I remember "Zipper Suited Sun Gods" that flew them always griped about the lack of power, height/weight limitation of the crew, and about everything else. So my take was it did the job barely, hung around longer than it should, and didn't have any protection. So if you're into a LOCH and a half, it was great. Funny, I didn't hear much from the Gods saying they wanted to fly something else.

Response by BG David Fleming III made Jan 11 at 2016 10:23 PM

2016-01-11T22:23:06-05:00

I'm a firm believer in not trying to fix what isn't broken!

Response by LTC Stephen C. made Jan 11 at 2016 11:16 PM

2016-01-11T23:16:23-05:00

What say you, SFC Mark Merino?!

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 12 at 2016 12:02 PM

2016-01-12T12:02:18-05:00

The OH-58D fills an important mission role. There is no other aircraft in the current inventory that fills that role. Until they have a replacement aircraft to fulfill that role, they shouldn't get rid of it. Part of the problem is that Gen Cody killed the RAH-66 Comanche program. That aircraft was purpose designed to take over the Band-Aid that the OH-58D program always was. If the 58D is mothballed (and it shouldn't be), then I foresee that the UH-72 Lakota will start sprouting extra equipment (like a mast mounted site), 2.75" rocket pods, and/or externally mounted machine guns.