Hinchey, Schumer: VH-71 isn't dead yet
Lawmakers say Congress will have final say on helicopter
OWEGO - Area politicians aren't ready to cry uncle just yet when it comes to saving the presidential helicopter project at Lockheed Martin. U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley, and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the fight to save the $13 billion VH-71 program to develop the next generation of helicopters for the president is far from over.
Lockheed said Monday's announcement by the Navy, terminating the program, will immediately be factored into the company's workload analysis, which will lead to a reduction in force at its roughly 4,000-employee plant in Owego. "There will be a staffing impact across the business as the organization is restructured without the VH-71 program," spokesman Troy Scully said. "We will announce the magnitude of the job impact by the end of June."
Already, the company provided layoff notices to about 130 of its workers in Owego and at other area sites last month because of program cuts in the proposed defense budget for fiscal 2010. The layoffs are effective Aug. 17. Lockheed has said that in the end, the total number of job cuts will likely be greater than 250, though the company hasn't finalized anything yet.
Meanwhile, Hinchey and Schumer said they will work to keep VH-71 funded so Increment One, or the first phase of what was a two-phase project, can continue. Hinchey's office noted that the Navy's announcement Monday was "not a major development" but part of the expected process.
"The Navy is simply carrying out the direction it received from Defense Secretary (Robert) Gates to cancel the presidential helicopter program," Hinchey said. "Ultimately, the decision on whether to continue the current presidential helicopter program will be made by Congress through the annual appropriations process, which is set to begin in the coming weeks. The Navy's termination letter will in no way impact Congress' decision on how to move forward."
Pennsylvania Democrat Rep. John Murtha, chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, has spoken in favor of continuing the program, said Hinchey, who is a member of that subcommittee. Hinchey said he will work closely with Murtha and others in the House to continue funding for the project. Schumer said he will continue to work with the Senate Appropriations Committee toward the same goal.
The appropriations process for the Defense Department is expected to be finalized in September, Schumer's office said. The stop-work order issued last month provides 90 days before pay to Lockheed employees is stopped.
About 800 area Lockheed employees are connected to the presidential helicopter program, which has produced nine production and test helicopters that are in some stage of test or integration at different sites, including Lockheed in Owego and a Navy facility in Patuxent River, Md.
Schumer will fight to have that 90-day deadline extended while the Senate deliberates on the appropriations bill "so that jobs are not lost," the senator's office said.
Hinchey said "an entire new fleet of modern, Increment One presidential helicopters can be completed within the original budget constraints." The program was estimated to cost $6.1 billion in 2005, when Lockheed won the contract.
Shutdown of the program at Lockheed includes "termination processes, asset disposition and inventory management," Scully said. "For example, disposition of government assets such as the helicopters, lab equipment, tooling, instrumentation and test equipment will be resolved with the customer."
There are costs associated with terminating VH-71, though Lockheed could not specify the amount of money it would receive. "Lockheed Martin continues to gather relevant cost information and will work with our U.S. Navy customer to properly propose the costs associated with the termination," Scully said. About $3.2 billion has already been spent to develop the copters, with an extra $400 million to $600 million needed to cancel the program.
The Navy is developing a new presidential helicopter construction plan while deciding what to do with the nine Increment One aircraft.