Regardless, Be Prepared To PAY

Figures from the US Navy suggest that last week's official cancellation of the VH-71 Presidential Helicopter Program may have been politically expedient, but not necessary smart financially.

 
Lockheed Martin, with development partner AgustaWestland, has taken lots of heat for program cost overruns which have threatened to double the original projected cost of the new helicopter fleet to more than 13-billion dollars. What the general public doesn't hear is that much of that bloat was driven by hundreds of changes, including that A-W says were 50 major design changes, after development was started.
 
Now, Reuters reports the US Navy estimates it will cost over a half-billion dollars to terminate the contract and wind down production of the VH-71, and another 4-point-4-billion dollars to keep the elderly VH-3 and VH-60 helicopters on the job. Considering Lockheed had said it could deliver a downsized fleet of 14 more VH-71s for 6-point-8-billion, the cancellation is starting to look very penny-wise, pound-foolish.

 
Lockheed has already delivered four test aircraft, and five production models. The Navy hasn't decided yet what to do with them now that production of the rest of the fleet has been cancelled.

FMI: www.whitehouse.gov, www.navair.mil