CH-47F Block II testing in Mesa Arizona...pics by Dan Parsons

China coronavirus death toll jumps to 426 with nearly 20,000 confirmed cases https://t.co/2CEA7lZm6Q

— RT (@RT_com) February 3, 2020

Budgets are tight.  The US Army needs more capability now.  I'm betting that they end up picking up this helo and telling Boeing to do another upgrade to their existing birds.

Great solution?

Nope.

But good enough if tight budgets during the term of whoever is the next president is the reality I think it will be.

The terrible thing for the DoD is that from my chair they'll be lucky to keep budgets flat, even with tax increases.  The war hawks will be put back into their cages.  They've had their bite at the apple for 20 years and have failed us all terribly.

Smarter and much leaner is the future.  I hope DoD leadership is planning accordingly.