US to beef up existing White House helicopters

By Andrea Shalal-Esa

WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. Marine Corps said on Tuesday it planned to improve the reliability of its existing fleet of presidential helicopters, given expected delays in a Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) program to build new helicopters.

Lockheed, the Marine Corps, and the U.S. Navy, which oversees Marine Corps acquisitions and budgets, have been tight-lipped about the restructuring of the second phase of the VH-71 presidential helicopter program.

But a draft of an internal Pentagon budget document shows production of the biggest part of the fleet could be set back until fiscal year 2014, according to a report by InsideDefense.com.

Initial fielding of the new helicopters was first planned for fiscal 2013, but would be delayed by five years if the draft plans are finalized, the industry newsletter said.

Lt. Gen. John Castellaw, deputy commandant of the Marine Corps for programs and resources, gave few details about the restructuring when questioned by defense reporters on Tuesday.

But he did say the current fleet of H-3 helicopters used to ferry the president were "tremendously reliable aircraft" and the Marines planned additional upgrades to keep them running.

"We're going to do some stuff to them to increase that reliability," Castellaw said. He gave no details.

He said the existing H-60 helicopters, also used by the president, would be fitted with new blades that would allow the aircraft to carry more weight. That should allow the addition of newer communications equipment and other sensitive technologies for the president's office in the sky.

Castellaw said the Marine Corps was working closely with Lockheed and Bell Helicopter, a unit of Textron (TXT.N), on the helicopter program. "We'll see what we need to do to keep that thing alive," Castellaw said.

He said details of the restructuring were still being worked out, but ultimately the fielding of new helicopters would be driven by the mission of flying the president and other top officials, not the initial schedule for the program.

U.S. Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. John Schofield said the cost and schedule impacts of the restructuring would not be fully known until the current assessment was completed, thoroughly vetted, and approved by top Pentagon leaders. "We expect that process to be complete this winter," Schofield said.

He said the VH-71 program had been on "a high-risk and fast-paced schedule from the day of contract award," but it was "absolutely necessary" to meet security requirements after the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacking attacks.

"This is a high risk program principally because of the need to deliver a sophisticated helicopter system three years ahead of a normal acquisition schedule," Schofield said.

He said there were some requirement misunderstandings early in the program, but Lockheed and the Navy were in agreement on the contract requirements and had made "significant progress towards initial operational capability."

All nine helicopters planned in the first phase of the program were in various stages of being built or delivered. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; editing by Tim Dobbyn)