US Navy moves to replace presidential helicopters

breitbart.com ^ | 11/27/12 | AFP

[dforest]

Call me when the US Navy decides to be patriots and replaces the President.

[A.A. Cunningham]

HMX-1 provides rotary winged transport to the entire Executive Branch of the government not just the POTUS. Maintenance on those helicopters is over and above what one normally encounters with one being flown in the FMF. If the POTUS flies from the White House to Andrews and then wants helicopters in London for a State visit that’s a total of six. Plus you need aircraft for training and keeping your pilots current. That doesn’t even take into account the birds used to haul around the press and the clingons.

[MasterGunner01]

Replace the 19 VH-3D and 16 VH-60 helicopters with some good, new production Russian Mil Mi-8T “Hip” transports. They are work horses and half the cost of our birds. That's good enough for the Dear Leader usurper. While we're at it, hire a bunch of Russian crews to fly them in the interests of closer ties to Putin.

[Oztrich Boy]

IIRC part of the reasons to scrap the original contract was that it was going to be awarded to a European company (Westland?) for their EH-101 medium helocopter.

That was what Sikorsky's paid shills said, but it would actually have been built by Lockheed-Martin.

True the US101 was based on the Augusta-Westland 101.

However Sikorsky's "all-American" alternative S-92 had

• Main cabin by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan
• main rotor pylon, rear fuselage by Gamesa Aeronautica of Spain
• Forwad fuselage bu Aero Industrial Development Corporation os Taiwan
• Undercarriage and fuel system by Embraer of Brazil
• Tail stucture by Jingdezhen Helicopter Group is the Peoples Republic of China

Sikorsky of the USA would have contributed the power train and assembly Exactly what Lockheed Martin would have done on the US101

[A.A. Cunningham]

They are positioned at various places where the Prez frequently flies.

The names of those places?

As a matter of fact birds are based at Quantico and Anacostia only.

[editor-surveyor]

Before they shut TI and Alameda down, there used to be one in the Bay Area.

[Smokin' Joe]

There should also be some transport aircraft just decked out with nice chairs. Same deal in terms of multiple copies so they can be available wherever needed in the world; each command could have it’s own Presidential unit.

Just set it up so you can slide the POTUS box in the back, and plug the unit in. One box, multiple airframes.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Due to security and maintenance requirements whiteside birds are only prepositioned at Anacostia and Quantico and that has been SOP ever since HMX-1 became solely responsible for the executive flight mission in 1976.