CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Designers say it flies faster, farther and smoother. Pilots say the latest collision avoidance systems in the all-digital cockpit make it the safest in the air.
Then there’s the wood-paneled cabin, leather seats, on-board galley, executive bathroom and a bank of TV screens, satellite links and video conferencing equipment.
If it sounds like a helicopter fit for a president, that’s because the VH-92 Superhawk is one of two new aircraft competing for a $1.6 billion contract to replace the aging fleet of presidential choppers.
“It has everything the president needs to have an Oval Office in the sky,” said Joe Haddock, vice president for government business at Sikorsky Aircraft, the United Technologies Corp. unit that designed the Superhawk with Rockwell Collins Inc.
The Superhawk’s cutting-edge avionics include eye-level glass displays that allow pilots to keep their eyes on the horizon while tracking flight and navigational data.
For security reasons, the demonstration model lacks some items featured in the real thing. But executives said the demo provides a glimpse of the latest technology available to the president.
The Pentagon is also considering a rival aircraft, Lockheed Martin Corp.’s US101, for the contract to replace 19 Sikorsky Sea King copters – some dating from 1974 – with 23 new ones by 2008. A decision is expected in December.
The US101 is tailored after a model built by Lockheed partner AgustaWestland, a British-Italian consortium that supplies choppers to the British Navy.
Both sides claim they have the best craft for ferrying the president and teams of advisers in the post-Sept. 11, 2001, era of heightened security. Steve Ramsey, vice president for Lockheed Martin’s US101 project, said the US101 is just as fast as the VH-92, but is bigger, wider and has more cabin space.
But Sikorsky, which has supplied U.S. presidents with helicopters since 1957, has used Lockheed Martin’s overseas ties to frame the contest as a test of corporate patriotism.
Presidential helicopters, referred to as Marine One when the president is aboard, are stationed at military bases across the country to ferry the president on short trips. For longer trips, the president flies on Air Force One, one of two Boeing 747-200Bs built in Everett and modified in Wichita, Kan.
The VH-92 can cruise at speeds of 175 mph and withstand a 2.2-pound pigeon striking the helicopter at 190 mph, officials said. A network of six rotors is strategically positioned up and down the helicopter to cancel vibration from the rotors and other moving parts, allowing passengers to converse without shouting.
Associated Press
Joe Haddock, Sikorsky Aircraft’s vice president for government business, points out features of the VH-92 Superhawk, one of two helicopters being considered for the presidential fleet.
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