Lockheed's presidential chopper overshoots budget
30 Jan 2009
Lockheed Martin Corp's $6.1 billion next-generation presidential helicopter programme is running at least 50 per cent over budget, and will need to be re-certified as a national security requirement by the Pentagon's leadership.
In March last year, the Pentagon reported that the programme's price tag for a fleet of 28 new helicopters had reached $11.2 billion, and the US Navy and Lockheed have been trying unsuccessfully to bring costs down.
The new fleet of 28 VH-71 aircraft will replace the outdated fleet of Marine One aircraft between 2009 and 2014.
The Navy waited to report Lockheed's "critical" cost breach until it explored numerous alternatives and considered making requirement trade-offs to keep the programme within the original budget, Navy spokesman Lt Clayton Doss said Thursday. But the service decided that was not possible.
Such overruns trigger a Nunn-McCurdy violation, which requires the Pentagon to notify Congress about significant cost growth on major acquisition programmes. Doss said the service took the first step in notifying Congress about the presidential helicopter programme's cost breach on Wednesday.
A Lockheed spokesman referred requests for comment to the Navy. The programme now has to be re-certified by the defence secretary after it is determined that the Navy's helicopters are required for national security reasons.
Lt Doss said past cost-cutting efforts on the presidential helicopter programme included adopting 200 recommendations and Lockheed participating in a Navy acquisition review.
Earlier this week, defence secretary Robert Gates told lawmakers the Pentagon will be forced to make tough choices on acquisitions in the upcoming fiscal 2010 budget as the department faces the pressure of paying for two wars during a recession.
The helicopter, which will be outfitted with communications equipment, anti-missile defences and hardened hulls, is dubbed Marine One whenever the president is on board. The aircraft is expected to be similar to Air Force One, unlike the 30-year-old helicopters they would replace.
The new design will give the President and his staff twice as much cabin space for their mobile Oval Office.
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