 The Army also conducted a weapons demonstration for the Senate Armed Services Committee in early 1972 , to show off the Cheyenne 's firepower and garner support for attack helicopter development . The first TOW missile that was fired in the demonstration failed and went into the ground . The second missile was fired and hit the target . Previously , 130 TOW missiles had been fired without failure , but the failure of the first missile was now linked to perception of the aircraft . In April 1972 , the Senate published its report on CAS . The report recommended funding of the Air Force 's A @-@ X program , which would become the A @-@ 10 Thunderbolt II , and limited procurement of the Harrier for the Marine Corps . The report never referred to the Cheyenne by name and only offered a lukewarm recommendation for the Army to continue procurement of attack helicopters , so long as their survivability could be improved . 
