So Bell has the better cockpit layout and Sikorsky has everything else better. Disappointing that neither could get it completely right.
I misstated that. What I meant to say is that Sikorsky has the better propulsion and control technology.
On the Sikorsky concept, those doors lined with missile racks that pop out for shooting said missiles need the interior space provided by the fatter fuselage that accompanies a side-by-side cockpit. So the cockpit layout is integral with the rest of the concept.
It's interesting that Lockheed Martin now owns Sikorsky. Lockheed built the YAH-56 Cheyenne, the best attack helicopter that never was. Army attack pilots a little older than me lamented its cancellation.
And at the rear of the fuselage . . . a pusher-prop.

No counter-rotating main rotors, though, so it still needed a tail rotor.
General characteristicsCrew: 2 (pilot in the rear, gunner/co-pilot to the front)
Length: 54 ft 8 in (16.66 m)
Height: 13 ft 8.5 in (4.178 m)
Empty weight: 12,215 lb (5,541 kg)
Gross weight: 18,300 lb (8,301 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 25,880 lb (11,739 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × General Electric T64-GE-16 turboshaft engine, 3,925 shp (2,927 kW)
Main rotor diameter: 51 ft 3 in (15.62 m)
Main rotor area: 2,063.2 sq ft (191.68 m2)
Blade section: Root: NACA (4.6)3012 mod; Tip: NACA (0.6)3006 mod[50]
Rotor systems: 4-bladed main rotor, 4-bladed tail rotor
Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed pusher propeller
PerformanceMaximum speed: 212 kn (244 mph, 393 km/h)
Cruise speed: 195 kn (224 mph, 361 km/h)
Range: 1,063 nmi (1,223 mi, 1,969 km)
Service ceiling: 20,000 ft (6,100 m)
Rate of climb: 3,000 ft/min (15 m/s)
ArmamentGuns: 1 × nose turret with either a 40 mm (1.575 in) M129 grenade launcher or a 7.62 mm (0.308 in) NATO XM196 minigun plus 1 × belly turret with an XM140 30 mm (1.181 in) cannon
Hardpoints: 6 with provisions to carry combinations of:
Rockets: 2.75 in (70 mm) FFA rockets
Missiles: BGM-71 TOW missiles
The majority of Navy transports are slower than escorts of course, the exception being ships like the Queen Mary pressed into service, and she wasn't escorted, she just made a dash using speed to get by any but a very lucky U Boat.
Yep. When you've got a transport that can go 3 times the speed of any (submerged) attackers, you don't need escorts.
But flying into a hot LZ to drop off the infantry isn't very much like a high-speed dash from New York to Liverpool. That would be more like going from London to armed and fortified Wilhelmshaven.