rjsquirrel
15th Jan 2008, 10:44
Lockheed hits snag in presidential helicopter deal: Wall Street Journal
Multi-billion-dollar deal to build presidential helicopters in jeopardy
By Christopher Hinton, MarketWatch
Last update: 1:05 p.m. EST Jan. 12, 2008
Lockheed hits snag to build Marine One: report
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The Pentagon's top weapons buyer called an unusual Saturday meeting with senior Lockheed Martin Corp. officials to discuss the company's attempts to build 28 Marine One helicopters used by the White House, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The contract, which started out at an estimated cost of $6.1 billion, has stumbled due to engineering challenges and other delays that could result in the program running billions of dollars over budget, the report said. See full story (WSJ subscription required).
Navy officials commissioned three studies in the past year to examine alternatives, including scaling back or canceling the program, or asking United Technologies Corp.'s Sikorsky helicopter unit to step in with a version of its S-92 helicopter, the newspaper reported.
"There probably is no alternative that you could imagine that's not under consideration," a senior Navy acquisitions official was quoted as saying.
Multi-billion-dollar deal to build presidential helicopters in jeopardy
By Christopher Hinton, MarketWatch
Last update: 1:05 p.m. EST Jan. 12, 2008
Lockheed hits snag to build Marine One: report
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The Pentagon's top weapons buyer called an unusual Saturday meeting with senior Lockheed Martin Corp. officials to discuss the company's attempts to build 28 Marine One helicopters used by the White House, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The contract, which started out at an estimated cost of $6.1 billion, has stumbled due to engineering challenges and other delays that could result in the program running billions of dollars over budget, the report said. See full story (WSJ subscription required).
Navy officials commissioned three studies in the past year to examine alternatives, including scaling back or canceling the program, or asking United Technologies Corp.'s Sikorsky helicopter unit to step in with a version of its S-92 helicopter, the newspaper reported.
"There probably is no alternative that you could imagine that's not under consideration," a senior Navy acquisitions official was quoted as saying.