Posted on 01/08/2004 12:33:22 PM PST by ladtx
LOS ANGELES -- In a bid to keep a European-designed helicopter from becoming the next Marine One transport for the president, United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX - News)'s Sikorsky Aircraft Co. said it will rely on U.S. companies to build its latest version of the chopper, pulling work from several international suppliers.
Sikorsky, whose helicopters have carried all U.S. presidents since Dwight Eisenhower, will replace partners in China, Taiwan, Spain, Japan and Brazil on this particular version of its new S-92 helicopter. The international partners will continue to build large portions of the civilian version of the helicopter, Sikorsky said.
Since May, Sikorsky has been lobbying for its twin-engine helicopter against a three-engine one designed by AgustaWestland, a joint British and Spanish helicopter company. Seeking to position itself as a U.S. company selling a U.S.- made aircraft, AgustaWestland teamed up with Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT - News) and Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT - News)'s Bell Helicopter on the project and named Lockheed as the prime contractor.
For the competition, the company changed the name of its helicopter to US101 from EH101 and said that the U.S. content of the helicopter will be at least 65% .
Besides giving Sikorsky the ability to tout 100% American content, an all-U.S. team reduces the risks associated with relying on foreign suppliers for long- term support of the presidential fleet, a Sikorsky spokesman said. The new team includes Vought Aircraft Industries (News - Websites) Inc., Flight Safety International Inc., Rockwell Collins Inc. , L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LLL - News) and Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC - News) . General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE - News) will supply the engines for both competitors.
During a news conference, Sikorsky President Steve Finger said he believes the Sikorsky team should win on its merits. "When you look at the entire package -- technology, safety, performance and experience -- there is no other choice for America's leader," he added.
Steve Ramsey, the Lockheed vice president in charge of the US101 proposal, said Lockheed isn't concerned about Sikorsky's strategy. "We believe the question is not what is the right domestic content, but what will provide the best capability for the president," he added.
People familiar with the Marine One competition say that until recently, it would have been unthinkable that a foreign-designed helicopter would be a permanent part of the fleet that carries an American president. But that tradition could fall by the wayside because of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's staunch support of the president's Iraq agenda.
By Pentagon standards, the Marine One contract is small potatoes -- about $1.6 billion to supply up to 23 helicopters -- but the prestige alone could translate into marketing gains in a depressed civilian market. Both competitors hope to sell versions of their helicopters for executive transportation.
The president's distinctive green and white helicopter fleet is part of an elite Marine Corps helicopter squadron known as HMX-1. The primary aircraft for presidential use is the aging 73-foot-long Sikorsky VH-3, which first entered service in the early 1960s. Comfortably outfitted and built with systems to evade attack, the 14-passenger choppers ferry the president between the White House and Andrews Air Force Base, where Air Force One is kept, as well as other places when he is traveling.
The Navy's Naval Air Systems Command, which is supervising the competition, said the competing proposals are due Feb. 2. A winner is expected to be named in May. The first operational helicopters are expected to be in service by the end of 2008.
-By J. Lynn Lunsford
| Rank | Location | Receipts | Donors/Avg | Freepers/Avg | Monthlies | |||
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Augusta is a b*tch of a company to deal with, will not provide support docs for service/maintenance (must be 'factory' serviced-$$$$$$$)and components are not stock USA/DoD inventory.
Keep it SIKORSKY.
Poppycock.
Actually, they're going up against the same Euro-peons who are moving factories to America to lower THEIR cost of business.
The DoD worships the holy trinity of cost, performance, and schedule. From people I've talked to in the helicopter biz, Augusta delivers the least performance for the most cost and on the longest schedule. Only if they engage in a massive buy-in--in other words, deliberately take a loss on the entirety of the contract--will Augusta actually submit a winning bid.
What chaps me is that Sikorsky never type-certified the S-65 with the FAA (the S-65 is known in the USMC as the CH-53E Super Stallion, and it is probably the best damn heavy-lift helicopter in the world).
It's against Administration policy to buy American.
Karl Rove would rather have his staffers working overtime at the shipping ports, stuffing foreign components into falsely labeled "Made In USA" boxes.
Backdrop Hides `Made in China' Labels
PHOTO-OP COVER-UP: BOXES READ 'MADE IN CHINA' NOT 'MADE IN USA'!
I tried to post a link and am unable. Their web site is very interesting
Why in the world would you post such allegations as this? What info do you have to verify this post? Tell us...What are your sources?
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