[thatguy96]

This is probably more accurate. There seemed to be some debate over whether or not this had made it to Korea. It probably is a product of things getting conflated. The test was no doubt a product of the Korean experience, where the US Army found itself woefully unprepared to deal with enemy armor.

By the time things really got into high gear, the difference between the French and the United States services branches, was that the French had an active conflict going on. The US was testing a wide array of weapon systems around the exact same time as the French were actually putting it to use in Algeria. Who comes first is still a matter for debate.

Between the Bazooka test in 1951, the grenade dispenser test in 1953, and others dating back to the mid-1940s, the US Army was definitely interested in the concept. The US Marine Corps was too. The general consensus remained for some time, and in the USMC longer than in the Army, that the helicopters available until the introduction of the UH-1 were simply underpowered for any armed application.

Why the US Army begins in earnest in the mid-1950s has much to do with the formation of the USAF in 1948, and its utter reluctance to properly fulfill the close air support role, despite refusing to let the Army have it. When it becomes clear that the USAF will resist every move toward fixed wing attack aircraft, the US Army is more or less forced to pursue helicopters in a way that no other branch has had to.