Obama's Helicopter

[choctaw]

The Buzz Log - Marine One Spending Under Fire - Yahoo! Buzz

Quote:
Marine One Spending Under Fire

President Obama has talked tough about the need to shed wasteful spending. But will he practice what he preaches? His one-time rival, Sen. John McCain, brought up a pricey presidential project that seems a bit unnecessary — a fleet of 28 new Marine One helicopters that will cost taxpayers around $11.2 billion.

At a recent summit to cut the federal deficit, Sen. McCain suggested that if President Obama wants to help the economy, perhaps he should consider canceling his order. Obama replied that he's already looking into it. Obama then joked that perhaps he's been unknowingly deprived all his life, but his current Marine One chopper seems just fine to him. CNN is reporting that the new helicopters, which were originally ordered by President George W. Bush, are now on hold (though not officially cancelled...yet).

Naturally, all this talk of gazillion-dollar equipment has people searching. Folks are desperate to know more about the fancy helicopters, what they can do, and why they cost such an exorbitant sum of cash. Queries immediately surged on "marine one photos" and "why is it called marine one." Regarding the second inquiry: It's called Marine One only when the president is aboard.

As for why the president needs 28 of them — apparently, it's a safety precaution. When flying in Marine One, identical choppers travel next to the president's ride. Trickery throws off the bad guys.

But why in the world do these contraptions cost $400 million each? After all, isn't a helicopter just a helicopter? Apparently not. The Washington Post explains that the proposed fleet would be outfitted with "cutting-edge communications equipment, antimissile defenses and hardened hulls." Oh, and a kitchen. You can't forget that.

See also:

Obama mulls chopping costs on helicopter fleet - Yahoo! News

[KYStrokin]

BULL$HIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[KYStrokin]

ILL BUILD HIM ONE HELL OF A HELL OF A HELICOPTER FOR 400 MILLION!

[symbols]

Hows that saying go.....


if you run you will only die tired

[Ryan Rønning]

I wish it were posible to control where your tax money went!

[choctaw]

Originally Posted by RRonning1984

I wish it were posible to control where your tax money went!

It is........................just don't pay it.

[najaf4life]

Originally Posted by RRonning1984

I wish it were posible to control where your tax money went!

me too... hello new PSD

[Craig02711]

From an "insider's perspective", this is a case of a much needed upgrade gone awry. The problem began when Lockheed Martin, in a partnership with Augusta Westland and Bell, was awarded the contract for the new fleet. Sikorsky has been building these aircraft for more than 40 years - they now the processes, the security measures, the requirements, the limitations, etc....LM/AW/Bell (with a lot of components being manufactured in the UK and Italy) were awarded the contract, in my opinion, to reward the Brits and Italians for supporting us in Iraq. But from day one they have been in over their heads. Costs and timelines have spiraled out of control, resulting in the massive pricetag associated with each aircraft. H*ll, 90% of the current proposed aircraft is different than what won the contract. If Sikorsky would have been selected, I doubt many of these problems would have been encountered.

There is a definite need for a new aircraft - the current airframe primarily used is the VH-3, an aircraft that has been in service since Kennedy was president. But at what cost? Hopefully the Congressional review of the program will kill this thing and we will go with the Sikorsky SH-92. If anyone is interested in looking at the new plane, it is designated the VH-71 for our purposes.

This is not something proposed by either Bush or Obama - it is something DoD has idenitified as needing replacement. Not defending either of them on decisions to approve or keep going with the program, just pointing out that this is not an item on the Presidential Wish List...

[kingchip]

I heard it's too overloaded to fly..........kinda like D.C.

[krazeehorse]

Why all the fancy communication stuff? He has his Blackberry.