The head of the Army's Fixed Wing procurement directorate was visiting in my office a few weeks ago. (he's a War College buddy of my boss). He had some interesting insights. Fixed Wing aircraft aren't going away in the Army anytime soon. And there is plenty of constructive debate going on regarding the current transformation in Army Aviation.
The way I read the article M1, LM and Bell made the cut.
That's aligned with what I was saying. Leonardo's T119 is out, then. As much as I don't like that aircraft compared to comparable platforms, it's much more like a operational military helicopter than the 505 or R66. The Army is clearly going "lowest cost, technically acceptable" (LCTA), which I think is a great way to get people killed.
I am going to guess that even though the same aircraft is being used, the differentiation between M1 and LM will be the contracting and labor model. With one diving for the cheap seats using lower paid CFI staff who came from flight schools operating R22/R44 Private - Commercial - CFI and already have the minimum hours in type to meet the SFAR for Robinson helicopters to act as PIC.
