Presidential Helicopter Program Approved for Production of 6 Aircraft

Marine Helicopter Squadron (HMX) 1 conducts test flights of the new VH-92A helicopter over the South Lawn of the White House in Washington last September. U.S. Marine Corps/Sgt. Hunter Helis

PATUXENT
RIVER, Md. — The U.S. Navy’s presidential helicopter program awarded a $542
million contract to Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, on June 10 to build
six VH-92A aircraft, spares and support equipment, the Program Executive Office
for Assault and Special Missions announced in a release.

“The team
has efficiently leveraged a proven platform with cutting-edge government
mission systems for rapid agile development of the next helicopters to fly presidential
missions,” said James F. Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for research,
development and acquisition. “I am proud of the combined government and
contractor team who has worked so hard to transition this program into initial
production and did so at over $1 billion less than the program’s cost
baseline.”

“The presidential
lift mission is a no-fail mission for the Marine Corps,” said Lt. Gen Steven
Rudder, the deputy commandant for Marine Corps aviation. “We deliver helicopters
and MV-22 transportation across the globe to support the requirements of the presidency.
The authorization to move forward with procurement of the VH-92A will allow the
Marine Corps to deliver the next generation of presidential helicopter
support.”

The VH-92A
aircraft will increase performance and payload over the current presidential
helicopters, VH-3D and VH-60N, that have been serving more than 40 years. The
VH-92A will provide enhanced crew coordination systems and communications
capabilities plus improve availability and maintainability.

Government testing will
continue to validate system performance and prepare for initial operational test
and evaluation planned for mid-2020 and initial operational capability (IOC) in
late 2020.