Scanned off a recently-bought book on ROC Army Aviation history.
The Bo 105 competed against the Bell 206L Texas Ranger and 500MD Defender for ROCA attack helicopter procurement programme in the early 1980s after it was deemed too cost-inefficient to install TOW missile onto the UH-1H (it would have had to be trialed all over again since the last variant to carry it was the shorter UH-1B). All three are considered comparable in flight performance, but the Bo 105 was considered the best as it not only could carry eight TOW missiles (whereas the other two candidates could carry four each) but also by that time had an underfuselage 20mm cannon mount developed for it.
The ROCA planned to buy 44 Bo 105s but changed their minds after the ROC was cleared to purchase the AH-1 from the US in 1985. In addition to being an optimized gunship helicopter, the AH-1 also wouldn't suffer as much of political baggage as an European counterpart prior to 1989.
