The US Marine Unit that drives the President around is almost ready to get replacement Sikorsky CH-92A helicopters to replace their decades old ones ( VH-3D and VH-60N helicopters) …
After the first contract was awarded to an American /British outfit and ran over in its budget and under in its performance promises and was cancelled….Sikorsky got the call to supply the next generation Marine One Presidential helicopter fleet for HMX-1, The Marine Unit that the helo’s belong to….
The Navy and the Marines had got the ok form Congress to use the MV-22 Osprey to do the support mission , which involves transporting White House, Media and others that travel with the President anyplace on the planet…
But the Osprey has become a problem …
It is a helicopter that converts into an airplane with it giant propeller’s that change from vertical to horizontal axis….
It’s bigger and faster than the other helicopters, but that is actually not useful since the ‘package’ usually travel together ….
But worst?
The Osprey’s giant propeller are so powerful they have caused rotor winds incidences….
Soooo?
The Navy has asked Congress for money for more Sikorsky CH-92A’s to move the Ospreys out of the Presidential staff transport business…
The U.S. Navy is considering buying five additional Sikorsky S-92 helicopters to complement a planned fleet of 23 VH-92As, which are set to become the newest “Marine Ones” responsible for shuttling the president, their family, and their closest advisors around at home and abroad. The extra helicopters, which the service is tentatively referring to as CH-92As, would have less extensive modifications and would be used for training duties and for less critical logistics missions, such as flying around the White House staff and the media pool. The U.S. Marine Corps squadron that flies the president around refers to aircraft that perform this role as ‘green tops,”while the Marine One helicopters are ‘white tops.’…
The House Armed Service’s Committee Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee highlighted the ongoing internal discussions about the potential purchase of the five CH-92As in a press release on June 22, 2020. The release was focused on the subcommittee’s desired additions to the annual defense policy bill, or National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), for the 2021 Fiscal Year. The members of the subcommittee are now looking to require the Navy to submit a full report on its requirement for these helicopters, including a cost/benefit analysis….
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