The missing gun on the UHU was not an idea from Eurocopter but part of the German army requirement. Which still dates back to the cold war.
Most pilots of the Heer would agree that it needs a gun, but currently it does not seem to get one soon.

If it should get a gun it will be the 30mm Mauser. Because it seems that the 30mm offers a good balance between HE effect and penetration.

I just dug out, some data from way back. Curiously, Eurofighter (then called ACA/EAP/TKF/JF90) originally had the same operational requirement of SC Mach 1.5, just like the ATF did.
So, while the Europe prepared an aerodynamically super advanced and nimble interceptor, US went for a stealthy and more endurable version of the similar op req.
This is why Jumper said for EF and F22, they’re like “F1 and NASCAR”, although he forgot to say which is which. 😉

It’s not accident that EF supercruises, after all, since it was it’s original op. req, way back in early 80s.

The different results also come from different requirements. TF90/TKF was meant to defend firendly airspace from enemy intruders.
ATF was meant to fly into enemy airspace and attack enemy fighters there.

Imagine the cold war stayed hot for another decade. So in the middle 90ies NATO would have fielded EF and F-22 to face an ever growing fleet of MiG-29 and SU-27 (upgraded versions). Then F-22 and EF would have perfectly worked together.

I would say any suitable of the shelf helicopter would do.

Be it Cougars, NH90, Merlin, Blackhawks or AW149.

Rather keep them flying in Africa for some time, or as long as possible.

Scrap and forget.

Stealth, lack of an AESA radar, external weapons carriage, not yet fully developed, future development prospects uncertain. Pretty much a one trick pony. Most do not have laser designators, IRST, and a host of other highly touted systems and they probably never will get them due to lack of funds. Why? Because you keep buying more than you need instead of developing the airframes you have to their full potential.

In short, it is nothing more than any other 4.5th gen fighter with its own set of strengths and weaknesses. Many of those weaknesses need to be addressed if it is to remain competitive against second tier air threats in the next 20 years. Will the funding be there? Sure it’s at the beginning of its service life and it’s already starting behind the eight ball.

At least for Germany it does not matter. The need was for a defensive counter air fighter, which is to protect friendly airspace from intrusion. As an AESA is on the upgrade path and Captor is quite good in the current form, this is good enough for Germany. Same with the replacement for the Tornado fighter bomber wings. It will only be used in peace-keeping or stabilisation missions. And it will be good enough for that as wel..

Typhoon is hopelessly outdated for USAF (and most likely RAF) needs, but okay for the Luftwaffe.

Imho Typhoon has to be excluded from the competition asap in Switzerland because of this.