The Nation - News from Sept. 21, 1987

Planning delays on a new fleet of helicopters and a decision to quit making the kind of rotary-wing aircraft now in use will force the Army to go without new helicopters through much of the 1990s, a new report said. The General Accounting Office study, quoting unidentified Army leaders as saying that relying on Vietnam-era helicopters does “involve risks,” warned that the lack of new helicopters will reduce the nation’s combat readiness. Delays over the LHX program’s $66-billion price tag, the report said, has pushed back the delivery date for the new LHX troop and cargo helicopter to the year 2000.