The new presidential helicopter could wind up costing nearly twice as much as originally advertised. President Obama has promised to trim military programs with excessive costs or outdated missions. Will he start with his own helicopter, the VH-71?
This issue is facing serious scrutiny in Congress. At a February 11 hearing of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, Chairman John P. Murtha (D-Pennsylvania) called the VH-71 program “one of the worst examples” of a defense program run amok. The average cost of the new helicopter is $400 million, and the entire program is slated to come in at $11.2 billion for 28 helicopters. The first group of four helicopters is supposed to be delivered to the Marine Corps squadron that handles the presidential helicopters by 2011. All 28 of the helicopters are expected to be delivered by 2019. When the program began four years ago, the program was estimated at $6.5 billion.
The problem with the VH-71 program is how much it is being asked to accomplish, according to defense experts and congressional aides who follow the program closely. The VH-71 is doing what two types of helicopters do now. One version of today’s Marine One lands on the White House lawn. The other is deployed around the world in places where the president will travel. The VH-71 would do both in a single aircraft.
The new helicopter’s costs have risen dramatically because it will carry more people, more communications gear, more “survivability” equipment and fly longer ranges. It must be able to counter surface-to-air missiles. It has phone, Internet, fax, printers, and video screens. The communications gear must hold up even after an electromagnetic pulse effect from a nuclear blast.
The VH-71 is supposed to be modeled on a commercially available helicopter. However, the new requirements have made it necessary to replace the engine and the rotors. A requirement for increased range, and ability to hover for prolonged periods are also driving up costs. Finally, in addition to accomplishing all of the tasks outlined above, the aircraft must not get too large as it must be put aboard a C-17 transport plane and flown to any overseas locale where the president needs it.
The future of the program will be determined in the weeks ahead by Obama’s team. Obama and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates have been silent thus far on the outlook for the presidential helicopter program. However, the program’s cost has now grown to the point where the secretary of Defense must certify to Congres that it is in the national interest and meets other criteria in order for it to continue.
The certification is due 120 days after the president’s fiscal 2010 budget goes to Congress. The Obama administration will have to make a decision about the coming fiscal year’s activities before the secretary makes his determination.
Lawmakers from Connecticut, where Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation lost the 2005 competition to build the president’s helicopter fleet, are hoping to get another shot at the business. HAI has learned that, in a February 11 letter to Navy Secretary Donald Winter, members of the Connecticut congressional delegation asked for a report and a briefing on the program, including an analysis of the merits of recompleting it or splitting the buy between Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin, the company that won the contract to build the helicopters mostly in New York state and Texas with help from firms in the United Kingdom and Italy.
President Obama has criticized business executives for traveling in business aircraft during the current economic crisis, and it will be interesting to observers inside and outside the Capitol Beltway as to the direction he flies on this issue. Presidents have had helicopters at their disposal since 1957 when President Eisenhower was irked over the time it took to get from point A to point B. Some of the aircraft in the current fleet have been flying presidents for up to 35 years!