At a summit yesterday on fiscal responsibility, President Barack Obama suggested that it was time to reconsider the ultimate gold-plated defense project: the VH-71 presidential helicopter program.
Over the past three years, the estimated price of buying a fleet of replacement helicopters has almost doubled. The total cost of the new helos, which would be built by Lockheed Martin and AgustaWestland, climbed from $6.1 billion to $11.2 billion -- making the aircraft more expensive than Air Force One.
Taking a cue from Sen. John McCain, the president said the VH-71 was "an example of the procurement process gone amok." And he said he had directed Defense Secretary Robert Gates to undertake a "thorough review" of the helo buy.
"The helicopter I have now seems perfectly adequate to me. Of course, I've never had a helicopter before -- maybe I've been deprived and I didn't know it," Obama said.
So is this the end for the "21st Century Oval Office in the sky?" As we've reported here before, part of the problem is the piling on of additional requirements that lead to cost increases and schedule overruns. That's typical for many big-ticket military items. But many of the options on the new presidential helicopter had more to do with turning the VH-71 into a flying Winnebago: as Roxana Tiron of The Hill notes, the new aircraft would have a kitchen and bathroom in addition to a protected communications suite and advanced navigation. And, of course, don't forget the plush carpeting.
[IMAGE: Lockheed Martin]
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