One reason the U.S. Navy was eager to bypass many Japanese-occupied islands on the way to Japan was the hideous cost of each island taken. Even small numbers of hidden Japanese troops could wreak havoc on the U.S. Marines sent ashore to find them. But had the U.S. Navy put helicopter carriers into widespread use, aerial reconnaissance could have pinpointed Japanese locations and brought much more accurate naval support fire ahead of the advancing Marines.

Though reconnaissance helicopters would have been a huge boon to US Marines advancing through the jungle, they would have been very vulnerable to fire from the same hidden Japanese units for whom they were searching. An R4 discovering a Japanese machine gun nest would likely catch a hail of bullets directed at its rotors, and then only the "egg-beater's" remarkable emergency maneuverability could save it from destruction.