A New Helicopter to Transport the President Seemed Like a Shoo-In After 9/11

A new helicopter to transport the President seemed like a shoo-in after 9/11.

The Saga of

Marine One By Otto Kreisher

ne would think that a helicopter project intended to provide safe, effective, and secure transport for the President of the UnitedO States and other top-level US officials would be a sure thing. One would be wrong. Successfully completing any new military helicopter program has proved difficult in recent years, and not even the new Marine One presidential helicopter planned in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks has managed to emerge from its tumultuous acquisition process. After 10 years and at least $3.3 billion spent trying to produce the new VH- 71 presidential support helicopter, the Navy has painfully shown this to be the case. Instead of a new fleet of VH-71s, the Navy and the nation have ended up with nothing but sizable termination expenses and a costly life extension Top: An AgustaWestland-built US101 medium lift helicopter. Lockheed Martin of- fered it as the presidential helicopter replacement. Here: The first VH-71 takes flight. requirement for existing VIP choppers. President Obama said the snakebit VH-71 program was a good example of the Now the Navy’s new effort to procure procurement process gone awry. a more reasonably priced presidential 70 AIR FORCE Magazine / February 2012 AIR FORCE Magazine Magazine FORCE AIR jumbo jets that as serve jumbo Air One. Force 747 the than have converted more cost would helicopters presidential posed pro 23 the of each said critics 2009, in programs April acquisition military high-profile several gutted Gates M. costs. soaring and runaway requirements, program delays, was later bogged down in complaints of went contract to a and foreign producer the when controversial became it But and gained increased urgency after 9/11. 1990s late the in initiated was it when many surprised analysts. helicopter support security environment. post-9/11 not the were for adequate determined officials that to fly will continue in aged helicopters leaders Biden, government senior Joe other and President Vice Obama, the budgets projected over the as next decade. up held defense for smaller prepares Pentagon being is helicopter When Defense Secretary Robert Robert Secretary Defense When supported widely was program The of the Still, cancellation presidential Barack President Meanwhile, / February 2012 February / - Lockheed Martin photos USAF photo by TSgt. Suzanne M.Day Suzanne by TSgt. photo USAF it. overruled Bush program, the VH-71 cancel to wanted Navy the 2009. When in copter heli presidential the board they as wave Bush Laura and Bush George President a decade old, created in as 1947 a created old, a heli decade Base Quantico, Va. HMX-1 was already Helicopter Corps at Marine based One, Squadron Experimental Marine to was President given to the the Marine Corps and assigned for support wing spot. vacation a reach to Dwight helo a used Eisenhower D. President when 1957 since air by movements short relatively for An Eisenhower-Era Practice analyst, in a June 9, 2009, report. 2009, 9, June a in analyst, programs naval Service Research nal Congressio O’Rourke, Ronald wrote funding,” defense FY2010 on debate as a item significant of in discussion the DOD FY2010 budget and has emerged proposed the in reductions or lations cancel program highest-profile the of is one of program the VH-71 mination ter proposed Administration’s “The Pentagon. the and House, White the debates between members of Congress, heated of subject the was program the After that, the mission of rotary rotary of mission the that, After helicopters used have Presidents Even then, the decision to terminate to terminate the decision Even then, - - - - - tract for the system development and and development system the for tract con fee award plus cost billion $1.7 a received team US101 The team. led Martin- Lockheed the to contract the projects. helicopter military other and program rescue and search combat CSAR-X Force’s Air the for their aircraft an edge in the competition give would contract fleet presidential NATO several with service nations. in land. Various models AgustaWestof the manufacturer AW101 were helicopter larger AW101 made by the Anglo-Italian fering the US101 based on the somewhat a buyer. find to yet had which S-92, products. their as an avenue of program sales to wider saw the relatively small but prestigious aggressively by two industry teams pursued that was contract production and 2001.” 11, Sept. of attacks terrorist the by raised issues pushed up to 2007, “in light of security be date in-service IOC the urged 2002 CRS said the White House in November tacks, however, the plan was accelerated. quarter of Fiscal 2009. After the 9/11 at in capability the initial operational first sailors. and marines for AIR develops, tests, and provides aircraft (NAVAIR) Command at Systems Patuxent River, Air Md. Naval NAV the by initially designated VXX, was managed proved in September 1999. The program, which was helicopters, presidential ap new for document Needs Operational Fleet a submitted HMX-1 when 1998, March in began first inventory isting used Black Hawk, were added in 1989. widely the of modification a VH-60s, operations with HMX-1 in 1975, and the SH-3 anti-submarine helicopters, began Sikorsky. by made both Hawks, White VH-3D Sea Knights and eight VH-60N support fleetpresidential consistsof 11 current The product. Sikorsky a been sign One. call Marine the has helicopter the port, trans is his Marine on board President weapons. nuclear of era emerging the in capabilities assault amphibious cherished their protect to effort an in Marines’ drive to perfect vertical assault copter developmental unit to support the On On Jan. 28, the 2005, Navy awarded the winning that hoped teams Both Lockheed Martin led a rival team, of its on based was Sikorsky’s offering The competition for the development NAVAIR estimated a new Marine One ex the for program replacement A The VH-3s, derived from the Navy’s From the beginning, Marine One has the when One, Force Air with As 71 - - - - ­ - - - Gates joked that the VH-71 was sup- posed to be capable of providing the President a three-course meal while fleeing a nuclear attack. Requirements creep and engineer- ing problems led to the usual schedule

White House photo by Pete Souza delays and cost overruns. In 2005, the cost of developing and procuring the full VH-71 fleet was es- timated at $6.5 billion. By December 2008, the total cost was projected at $13 billion, or more than $500 million per helicopter. IOC for the VH-71As had slipped to mid-2012 and operational capability for the full VH-71B fleet had lurched to 2021, six years behind the original schedule. The huge jump in cost put the pro- gram into a Nunn-McCurdy breach, requiring the Pentagon to notify Con- gress and to reconsider the project as President Obama approaches Marine One in 2010. The current Marine One fleet is early as 2007. The Navy reportedly made up of Sikorsky VH-3 and VH-60N rotary wing aircraft. recommended terminating the pro- demonstration phase. The proposed and secure helicopter, the program was gram, but the White House, occupied aircraft was given the designation VH- divided into two increments. by President George W. Bush, over- 71 and called Kestrel, after a species Increment 1 helicopters were in- ruled it. By early 2009, with Obama of falcons. tended to meet some of the opera- in the White House and the economic The decision was denounced by tional requirements and would enter recession putting strains on the fed- many members of Congress and others service first, beginning in 2009, as eral budget, support for the Kestrel who were outraged that the President short-term replacements for some of had faded. would be flying in what they considered the existing presidential helos. Incre- The President met with lawmakers to be a foreign helicopter. Under the ment 2 helicopters were to meet all on Feb. 23, 2009. At this summit, winning bid, the major components the requirements and would replace Arizona Sen. John McCain, the top of the VH-71s would be produced in the remaining legacy choppers and Republican on the Senate Armed Ser- AgustaWestland plants in England then the Increment 1 birds. vices Committee, cited the problems and Italy, with final assembly at Bell The Increment 2 helicopters were to with a number of Pentagon procure- Helicopter in Texas. begin reaching HMX-1 late in Fiscal ment programs, including the VH-71. The engines would be provided 2011, with the full VH-71 fleet expected Obama said he had “talked to Gates by General Electric, of Lynn, Mass., in service in 2015. about a thorough review of the heli- which also makes the power plants for After several revisions, the contract copter situation” and called the pro- the VH-3Ds and VH-60Ns. called for the Lockheed team to pro- gram “an example of the procurement According to the Navy, the Lock- duce nine Increment 1 helicopters, process gone amuck,” according to heed Martin team was chosen in part designated VH-71A, and 27 Increment transcripts of the meeting. because it “was deemed more likely 2s, or VH-71Bs. That would have “The helicopter I have now seems to be able to meet the program’s op- included three test aircraft in each perfectly adequate to me,” the Presi- erational requirements on time and at increment paid for by the Navy and one dent said. “Of course, I’ve never had a lower cost,” CRS said. test article in each increment funded a helicopter before, maybe I’ve been There also were reports at the time by the contractors. Five VH-71As deprived and I didn’t know it,” he that the US101 design was preferred were expected to become operational, added, drawing laughter. because it had three jet engines, theo- replacing legacy aircraft. At one point, Obama also told McCain that “Sec- retically offering greater security than the Navy considered retrofitting four retary Gates shares our concern and he the S-92’s two. of the 71As to Increment 2 standards recognizes that simply adding more and The VH-71 program then went and acquiring only 19 of the more ca- more does not necessarily mean better through several modifications over pable aircraft. That plan was scrapped and better, or safer and more secure.” the years, with varying numbers of in favor of buying 23 VH-71Bs and When he unveiled the Fiscal 2010 aircraft to be produced. retiring the five initial aircraft. defense budget on April 6, 2009, Gates CRS said the goal was to provide 23 called for cancellation of the VH-71 new presidential helicopters to replace The Poster Child program. The SECDEF noted the the 19 existing ones, but the total Marine One aircraft requirements program’s cost had doubled, it was six number to be built ran up to 36 with also evolved as the Navy and White years late, and it “runs the risk of not as many as 28 scheduled to become House proposed escalating needs for delivering the requested capability.” operational for at least some time. range, capacity, communications, self- “We will promptly develop options Because of the stated urgency in protection, and creature comforts for the for an FY11 follow-on program,” providing the President a more capable occupants. In terminating the program, Gates added. 72 AIR FORCE Magazine / February 2012 That May 15, then-DOD acquisition executive Ashton B. Carter directed that the VH-71 be canceled, and the Navy immediately issued a stop-work order for the program. Lockheed officials attributed the cost overruns and program delays to the government’s insistence on ex- tensive modifications to the original proposal. A March 2009 report by the Governmental Accountability Office said post-9/11 security concerns led to an “aggressive acquisition strategy,” confusion on specifications, and con- USN photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Robert Stratchko J. current design, testing, and production. However, the termination drew pro- tests in Congress, and not just from members whose constituents would have benefited from continuing pro- duction. By that time, the Navy had spent about $3.3 billion, and nine aircraft had already been built. The Marine One, carrying President Bush, takes off from the deck of USS Iwo Jima after VH-71A test aircraft and all five a visit to the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast region. Two USAF helicopter production models had rolled out of programs did not survive defense budget belt-tightening. the factory. CRS analyst O’Rourke estimated “Continued investments in the in- rescue helicopters. (The CH-149s are that shutting down VH-71 produc- service fleet will ensure continued also based on the AW101). That sale tion, upgrading the existing fleet, and safe and reliable executive transporta- was announced by Canadian Defense implementing a successor program tion until the replacement aircraft is Minister Peter G. MacKay and will would cost somewhere in the range fielded,” Navy officials said in a Nov. reportedly return $164 million—about of $14 billion to $21 billion. And 2 congressional hearing. The budget five percent—of the Navy’s $3.3 bil- starting over meant a new presidential also included a request for $180.1 lion investment. helicopter fleet would not be available million in research funds for the new In recent years, the Air Force and until 2024—meaning some of the presidential helicopters program, again the Army have learned similar hard legacy helicopters serving as Marine to be called VXX. lessons in their own efforts to develop One would be 50 years old. Some and field new helicopters. Each service members of Congress recommended Let’s Try This Again has had two major rotary wing efforts the Navy continue with a modified Despite the costly failure of the VH- canceled or stalled over the same VH-71 program to gain some return 71, the new program is attracting a lot time period as the failed Marine One on the $3.3 billion invested and to give of contractor interest. Lockheed has acquisition. the President better aircraft sooner. said it would team with Sikorsky in In 2009, Gates terminated the Air In July 2009, the House Appro- offering the S-92. Boeing has acquired Force’s second attempt to buy a new priations Committee approved $485 the US rights to the AW101 and has combat search and rescue helicopter million to make the five production said it will offer that aircraft as a VXX in the CSAR-X program. He also VH-71As operational. competitor. But the VXX effort has canceled the Common Vertical Lift But Gates, in a congressional hear- been put on hold while Carter, now Support Program, intended to replace ing, called the program “a poster child deputy defense secretary, reviews the aging UH-1 helicopters used at for an acquisition process gone seri- it and other procurement programs the Minuteman ICBM bases and for ously wrong” and suggested that no in light of defense funding cuts that VIP support. single helicopter design could meet the could reach $1 trillion over 10 years Meanwhile, the Army’s high-tech requirements of routine presidential if sequestration is implemented begin- RAH-66 Comanche armed recon- trips and for secure escape during a ning in January 2013. naissance helicopter program was major threat. Meanwhile, the Navy is negotiat- canceled in 2004 after 22 years and The Navy then completed the ter- ing with Lockheed over termination $6.9 billion spent developing it. The mination of the VH-71 program and costs for VH-71. In 2009 they were replacement program also was killed directed all the remaining funds be estimated at $555 million. in 2008, forcing the Army to continue used for upgrades and service life Part of that termination penalty will updating its OH-58 Kiowa Warriors. extensions of the existing helicopters, be covered by the sale of the nine VH- So the President won’t be the only according to the Navy’s 2009 contract 71A airframes to Canada for use as one flying in old helicopters well into termination notification. That work is spare parts in its CH-149 search and the next decade. n continuing. The Fiscal 2012 President’s budget requested $58 million to carry on Otto Kreisher is a Washington, D.C.-based military affairs reporter and longtime “structural enhancement” and avionics contributor to Air Force Magazine. His most recent article, “Move That Gas,” ap- updates for the VH-3Ds and VH-60Ns. peared in the September 2010 issue. AIR FORCE Magazine / February 2012 73