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Washington divided on plans to cancel VH-71 presidential helicopter programme
The Obama administration’s plans to cancel the US Navy-operated VH-71 presidential helicopter programme are running into resistance on Capitol Hill.
President Barack Obama proposed cancelling the new Lockheed Martin/Agusta Westland VH-71 presidential helicopter because of cost overruns and schedule delays.
“The helicopter I have now seems perfectly adequate to me,” Obama said. “On a more serious note,” he added, “I think it is an example of the procurement process gone amok. And we’re going to have to fix it.”
The original cost for 23 VH-71 helicopters was estimated at USD6.5 billion, but that number has ballooned to USD13 billion and the programme is six years behind schedule. Now, however, some US lawmakers are warning that cancelling the over-budget helicopter programme altogether might amount to throwing good money after bad.
The administration’s proposal in the Fiscal Year 2010 budget to halt the programme would leave the government with no new helicopters after spending USD3.2 billion on the VH-71 so far. Cancelling the programme could also potentially result in costly termination fees, and could mean spending additional money to extend the life of the president’s current fleet of ageing Sikorsky VH-3D Sea Kings and VH-60 Black Hawks.