Pentagon Approves $20 Billion Presidential Choppers

Everett Dirksen was an American politician back in the middle of the 20th Century and he had quite a wit, as evidenced by his quip about a spending bill one time when he said, "A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about a whole lot of money." 

One might be reminded of that when reading about the Obama administration's plan to spend $20 billion on replacing the president's private fleet of helicopters. The new contract will buy 23 SIkorsky helicopters at an estimated cost of $400 million each, which is about the same cost as the Air Force One 747 jet. That $20 billion includes some $3 billion spent between 2005 and 2009 on a program that was later canceled, so it's not really as expensive as it might seem. Remember, a billion here, a billion there .... And why so many? Well, one of the bright ideas is that they need 23 choppers so there can be a minimum of two decoys – and as many as five – that can fly to Andrews Air Force Base whenever the president hops from the White House to a waiting Air Force One.

Just one company bid on the project, Sikorsky in Connecticut, raising questions about whether the Navy got a fair price. A former senior Pentagon official said that the Department of Defense tried to encourage other aircraft manufacturers to compete for the award, but none were interested. He joked that for what the military is paying, 'Marine One should be able to have a solid gold toilet for the president – except that it would add too much weight.'

The contract will cost an initial $1,244,677,064 'for the engineering and manufacturing development phase of the Presidential Helicopter Replacement program.' For that price the U.S. Navy will get six test aircraft and all the necessary research & development. And the aircraft will meet exacting standards, including the capability for encrypted communications and secure videoconferencing with people on the ground. They must also have systems that can defend against missile attacks, and shielding to guard electronic components against energy waves produced by nuclear explosions.

Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain mocked the boondoggle helicopter upgrade project. 'Your helicopter is now going to cost as much as Air Force One,' McCain said. 'I don't think there's any more graphic demonstration of how good ideas have cost taxpayers an enormous amount of money.'