Air War over Presidential Helicopter
Fort Worth Star Telegram
(July 20, 2004)
The competition to build the next Marine One presidential helicopter pits Sikorsky Aircraft's S-92, shown with company president Stephen Finger, against the US101, built by a team that includes Bell Helicopter.
The heated competition to build a new generation of helicopters to transport U.S. presidents got a little hotter Monday in the spotlight of one of the world aerospace industry's premier events.
A senior executive of Lockheed Martin Corp. lashed out at competitor Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. for staging what he called a hypocritical, cynical and highly political marketing campaign to try to win an order to build 23 helicopters that will serve as Marine One, the presidential transport.
Sikorsky's campaign theme that it would build an "all American" helicopter is a blatant political appeal, said Bob Trice, a senior vice president for business development at Lockheed's headquarters in Bethesda, Md.
Trice's comments came in a news briefing on the opening day of the Farnborough Air Show and were unusually direct, especially coming from a typically reserved Lockheed executive.
"We would like for the presidential helicopter to be evaluated on the merits, not some jingoistic slogan," Trice said of Sikorsky's sales pitch.
A senior Sikorsky official rejected Trice's charges.
"It smacks of desperation to me," said Jeff Pino, Sikorsky's senior vice president and a longtime executive at Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth.
Trice and Pino both said they were confident of winning the Marine One competition if it is decided solely on the technical merits of the two helicopters.
Lockheed is the lead contractor for a team that also includes Bell and Italian-British helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland. The companies want to sell the US101 helicopter, a largely U.S.-built version of the AgustaWestland EH-101 military helicopter, to serve as Marine One.
A decision on the Marine One contract is expected this year.
Sikorsky's marketing efforts, Trice said, implied that buying a helicopter designed by companies from other nations, with some foreign-made parts, could somehow endanger the U.S. president. Both Italy and Britain, he noted, are staunch U.S. allies.
The only competition for the prestigious contract is Sikorsky's S-92, a helicopter developed for the civil aviation market. Sikorsky developed the S-92 with financial investments from a number of foreign nations and suppliers -- including China -- who in turn build portions of the civil helicopters.
With President Bush occupying the White House and influential Texans holding key positions in Congress, aviation analysts have said it's probably no accident that both programs would bring work and jobs to Texas companies.
Bell would manufacture some components of the US101 in Fort Worth and assemble the helicopters in Amarillo. Lockheed would then ferry the helicopters to its Owego, N.Y., facility, where it would install the complex, highly customized flight controls and communications and defensive systems required for the presidential aircraft.
Sikorsky selected Vought Aircraft Industries of Dallas to produce the large structural components of the presidential version of the S-92 if it wins the contract.
Trice's remarks came during a briefing on the importance of the growing number of partnerships between aerospace companies in different countries for developing and manufacturing aircraft and aerospace products.
Lockheed's partnership with suppliers from several foreign nations to build the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is a prime example, he said, of what should be a growing trend in the global aerospace industry.
Such partnerships help maintain the capabilities of aerospace companies in the participating countries, Trice said, and result in higher-quality, lower-cost products for the military services and civil customers.
Trice said efforts to block or hamper the spread of such partnerships, such as an attempt by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., to limit the U.S. military's purchases of weapons and goods made by foreign firms, would be counterproductive and harmful to the international aerospace industry.
Lockheed and virtually every other major aerospace corporation are involved in numerous partnership arrangements, Trice said, with Sikorsky being a prime example. He cited a Sikorsky announcement from August 2003 that said the company was "at the helm of a global partnership to design and build the S-92."
Sikorsky, based in Stamford, Conn., and a subsidiary of aerospace conglomerate United Technologies, is one of the world's leading military helicopter manufacturers. Like Lockheed, Trice said, Sikorsky has major operations and thousands of employees outside the United States and does business with many foreign companies.
When it came time to bid for the presidential helicopter contract, Sikorsky announced it would build an "All American" airplane with help only from other U.S. companies.
"We find this incredible," Trice said. "We find it the ultimate in hypocrisy."
Later, he added that the campaign, which Sikorsky pushed hard in the spring when it appeared that the decision on the contract might be forthcoming in May, was "pandering to election-year forces."
Pino, however, said Sikor-sky's decision to replace its foreign partners with U.S. companies for the presidential helicopters was a pragmatic decision that would enable the company to meet the heavy security requirements.
When the Navy issued the request for proposals in October 2003, it initially set a timeline for making a decision by June 1.
Given the short time frame involved, Pino said, "it was clear to us the safest, securest and least risky approach was to create an all-onshore team of U.S. suppliers who were experienced in serving the president of the United States in one form or another."
Although the competition to build Marine One is for only 23 helicopters, both companies hope that it could lead to large orders from the Pentagon for military versions of the aircraft.
"This is a difficult and very focused competition," Pino said. "I think it's going to be decided on its merits, not on politics."
Squaring off
Key partners in the US101 and S-92 helicopters competing to become the next Marine One presidential transport:
US101
Lockheed Martin, United States
AgustaWestland, Italy, Great Britain
Bell Helicopter, U.S.
Kaman Aerospace, U.S.
General Electric, U.S.
Northrop Grumman, U.S.
S-92
Sikorsky Aircraft, United States
Vought Aircraft Industries, U.S.
General Electric, U.S.
Northrop Grumman, U.S.
L-3 Communications Integrated Systems, U.S.
Rockwell Collins, U.S.
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