[3e] RAH-66 Comanche

[Phaelen Bleux]

Boeing/Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche
In the late 1980s, the U.S. Army began looking for a new light helicopter to replace its fleets of AH-1s, OH-6s and OH-58s. Boeing and Sikorsky won the 2-year competition with the RAH-66, a stealth helicopter that shared many of the same technologies used in the F-22 Raptor, including radar-absorbent materials, weapon bays rather than external mounts to minimize radar signature, a small amount of sound baffling, and similar avionics to maximize commonality between the two aircraft. Despite plans to acquire some 1,300 craft, the contract was cancelled in 2004 due to cost overruns.
The RAH-66A has a crew of two. Its burns 128 gallons of jet fuel per hour of routine usage. It has a ferry range of 1,260 miles and a combat radius of 302 miles. As an alternative to the Hellfire missiles, the weapon bay can hold 6 Stinger missiles or 24 Hydra 70 2.75" air-to-ground rockets. If stealth is less of a priority, optional stub wings can be affixed to allow the carriage of 8 Hellfires, 16 Stingers, or 56 Hydra 70 AGMs.

Subassemblies: Body +3, Top-and-tail rotor +0; three retractable Wheels +0.
Powertrain: Two 1,068-kW Improved HP gas turbines; 2,136-kW TTR drivetrain, 2,300-kWs advanced battery.
Fuel: 302 gallons jet fuel (Fire 13) in standard self-sealing tank [Body] (fire -1).
Occupancy: 2 NCS.
Cargo: 0 lbs.

Armor
Overall: 4/60

Weaponry:
20mm 3-barrel Gatling/XM301 [Body:F] (500 rounds SAPHE).
6x178mm SALH/Hellfire ATGM [Body:U].

Equipment:
Body: Basic stealth (-3), modest sound baffling (-1), Combat Helicopter Package (advanced radar detector, autopilot, dedicated targeting computer with software (+3 to skill), HUDWAC with pupil scanner, IFF, IR jammer (-2), 10x LLTV, military GPS, navigation instruments, two long-range radios with scramblers (300 miles), 10-mile thermograph), 2-man NBC kits, backup driver, 5-mile laser designator, 5-mile laser rangefinder, laser sensor, inertial navigation system.

Statistics:
Size: 47'x?'x11' Payload: 0.95 tons Lwt.: 5.3 tons
Volume: 270 cf Maint.: 17 hours Price: $2,456,488

HT: 12. HPs: 377 Body, 165 Rotors, 34 each Wheel.

aSpeed: 201 aAccel: 6.5 aDecel: 15 aMR: 4 aSR: 3
Stall speed 0.

Design Notes:
Body is 270 cf; rotor is 5.4 cf; wheels are 13.5 cf. Structure is medium, expensive with fair streamlining. Armor is advanced composite. Electronic controls. Sealed. Fuel tank is standard, seal-sealing. Design empty weight was 1% under at 8,583 lbs., however the large design payload put the design loaded weight over by 15%. Maximum real-world take-off weight is 17,175 lbs.
The real-world loaded weight of 10,597 lbs. was used for performance calculations. The real-world speed has been substituted; design aSpeed was 409 mph (and even this should be reduced to 300 mph by GURPS design rules, p. VEL40). The Combat Helicopter Package was used for this design for convenience, but the RAH-66A lacks a camera and decoy dischargers. The design takes advantage of the Modest Sound Baffling found on p. VEi26.