Navy orders work stopped on POTUS chopper

The Navy on Friday ordered Lockheed Martin and Agusta Westland to stop all work on the new presidential helicopter.

The stop work order comes after the Pentagon’s weapons buying chief Ash Carter on Friday signed a memo formally canceling the new presidential helicopter program also known as the VH-71.

{mosads}The decision to terminate the contract with Lockheed and Agusta is not a new one: Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced the cancelation of the program last month when he previewed the Pentagon’s 2010 budget request.

The decision to scrap the contract under which the defense contractor already built nine choppers does not sit well with several supporters in Congress, who are maneuvering to figure out a way to salvage the program. Lockheed’s main operations related to the VH-71 are in New York state.

The Obama administration decided to cancel the program after its costs more than doubled from $6.8 billion to $13 billion and the program faced delays. A total of 23 helicopters were supposed to be built.  

Dan Hill, vice president of Agusta Westland North America, which builds the helicopter, said in a statement last week that his company “is proud” of the helicopters it has delivered. The helicopters “meet or exceed all of the program specifications,” he said.

Supporters of the program argue that the cost ballooned because of increasing requirements and specifications from the Secret Service, which protects the president and the Marine squadron that flies the presidential helicopters.  

The Navy was in charge of the presidential chopper program. Carter directed the Navy to come up with options to replace the current decades-old presidential helicopters over the next 30 days.

In a statement issued Friday, the Navy said that the 2010 budget request includes money to extend the life of the current helicopters and to develop a plan to eventually replace them. The Navy said the budget request also covers the termination costs to the defense contractors. Those costs are, however, negotiated between the government and the contractors, so it’s unclear as of now what those costs are. The Obama administration requested $85 million overall to cover the extension of the old helos, figure out the way forward and pay the cancellation costs.

The government also has to figure out what to do with the nine helicopters the contractors have already built. According to the Navy the options are to keep the helicopters for other Pentagon uses, sell them to other “interested parties” or have the contractors buy back the helicopters.