Helicopter Procurement Program Grossly Over Budget

We'll soon see whether President Barack Obama will himself adhere to the standards his administration -- or, at least, Congressional lawmakers within his own party -- have insisted on holding corporate executives to. He'll soon need to decide whether to proceed on a costly, delay-plagued program to replace the fleet of Marine One presidential helicopters.

The International Herald Tribune reports each new VH-71 helicopter -- built by a consortium made up of Lockheed Martin and AgustaWestland -- costs more than the last Air Force One did in the late 1980s. The advanced helicopters are slated to replace the current aging fleet of Sikorsky VH-3D and VH-60N helicopters.

Doubts about the VH-71 aren't new. As ANN reported, the Pentagon awarded Lockheed the contract in 2005, on the strength of the three-engine design of the AgustaWestland EH101 on which the VH-71 is based. Since then, program costs have skyrocketed to $11.2 billion -- $400 million for each of the 28 VH-71s slated for Marine One service, double original estimates -- and the program has suffered a series of production delays and development issues.

Some of those delays have come as a result of new mission requirements called for by the Pentagon, in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. While the first five VH-71s delivered to the White House will lack some of the advanced componentry called for in the original contract, in the interest of delivering the helos somewhere close to on-schedule, each subsequent VH-71 will be equipped with a full array of countermeasures against missile attacks, with a full command-and-control suite onboard.

"If the office of the presidency is vulnerable, then the country is vulnerable," said Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Sestak, a Democrat and a retired navy vice admiral. "However, the nation is crying for accountability, from Wall Street to Congress to Iraq."

Last month, the Pentagon notified Congress a formal review of the program was needed, due to those skyrocketing costs... a phenomenon known as "mission creep" in military procurement circles. That -- combined with statements made by Obama while on the campaign trail, in which he promised to "take a close look" at the VH-71 program -- casts doubt on whether the full program will go forward.

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell admitted last week Defense Secretary Robert Gates was rethinking the VH-71, as well as other projects experiencing "execution problems.

"We're prepared to make some hard choices," Morrell added.

First used by Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1957, Marine One helicopters are most often used to transport the President and staff members from the White House to Andrews AFB or Camp David. The helicopters may also be airlifted around the world onboard C-5 transports, for use on diplomatic missions.

To date, four prototype VH-71s and three production-spec helos have entered the test program, with first deliveries slated for 2010.

FMI: www.whitehouse.gov, www.lockheedmartin.com