Presidential helicopter deal to create or maintain 200 jobs at Lockheed’s Owego plant

OWEGO — The U.S. Navy on Wednesday awarded a $1.26 billion contract to Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) to build a new fleet of Marine One helicopters that are used to transport the President.

U.S. Senators Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D–N.Y.) announced the award in a joint press release on Wednesday afternoon.

The lawmakers expect the Navy contract to create or sustain about 200 new “high-skilled” jobs in Owego.

Bethesda, Md.–based Lockheed Martin, a defense contractor, worked with Stratford, Conn.–based Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) to bid on the Presidential Helicopter Replacement program.

Sikorsky will manufacture the aircraft in Connecticut, the lawmakers said. Lockheed Martin will then perform the installation of the mission-communications systems, advanced capabilities, and apply executive aircraft paint at the facility in Owego, according to the release.

Under the contract, the firms will modify, test, and deliver six S-92 helicopters and two trainer simulators to the U.S. Marine Corps. The contract represents the “initial step” in providing a VXX Presidential Helicopter Replacement fleet totaling 21 operational aircraft by 2023, according to a separate Sikorsky news release issued Wednesday.

The Sikorsky team will produce the aircraft in four stages, the Connecticut firm said.

Assembly of the baseline, flight-certified aircraft will occur at the company’s S-92 production facility in Coatesville, Pa., near Philadelphia, Sikorsky said.

The firm will then perform aircraft modifications to meet the requirements of the presidential mission at a “secure” facility at the Sikorsky headquarters.

Later, the mission systems and training business segment of Lockheed Martin, which is serving as a principal subcontractor, will install the integrated communications and mission systems, Sikorsky said. 

The current fleet of presidential helicopters is comprised of Sikorsky Black Hawk/Sea King models that are 35 and 40 years old, and they are in “desperate” need of replacement, the New York Senators contend.

During a visit to the Owego facility last August, Schumer endorsed the Lockheed Martin-Sikorsky team in its bid to win the contract.

President Obama had “scuttled” the first bid process to replace the current fleet of helicopters in 2009, believing it was too expensive, according to Schumer. 

A Washington Post article Wednesday said that the Pentagon nixed the previous contract after costs doubled to $13 billion and cost taxpayers $3.2 billion, without making a functioning helicopter. Lockheed Martin and AgustaWestland, an Anglo-Italian helicopter manufacturer, teamed up on that contract.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com