No fly zone for the president

Gary Jacobsen
Published: April 29, 2008

As soon as he takes office in January, President Barack Obama should cancel the presidential helicopter replacement program. Here’s why:

• It is too expensive. The program is estimated to cost $11.2 billion dollars. That is approximately $400 million for each of 28 helicopters in the fleet-more than the inflation-adjusted cost of the Boeing 747 airborne command posts that serve as Air Force One.

• The helicopters are rarely used. The president rides in a helicopter from the White House to Andrews AFB or perhaps to Camp David, but the rest of the time the aircraft sit idle. More commonly, officials like the vice-president, the secretary of defense and the White House chief of staff use them for short trips. These second-tier officials consider existing “white top” helicopters insufficient for their needs.

• The aircraft are loaded with frills. The new helicopters will have hardened hulls to withstand 15G crashes, missile defense systems, cryptosecure communications, videoconferencing, electronic jamming and protection from the EMP effects of nuclear explosions. The aircraft will also have a lavatory and a galley. Without these frills, the aircraft are $57 million each.

• Existing helicopters are current models. The president is transported in Sikorsky VH-60N “Night Hawk” helicopters that cost approximately $10 million each. This helicopter is still in production at
Sikorsky’s main plant in Stratford, Connecticut.

• Existing helicopters have proven reliability. The VH-60N is a reliable, versatile, proven helicopter-variations of which are in service today in all the armed forces and in a dozen NATO and allied countries.

• Larger helicopters are readily available. If all or some of the present VH-60N helicopters must be replaced, the aircraft of choice would be the Sikorsky S-92 “Super Hawk” which costs $15.3 million. It is larger, more versatile and more cost-effective than any other executive transport helicopter on the market.

• President Obama is the kind of man who will take seriously his role as commander-in-chief of the armed forces. If Sikorsky helicopters are okay for our men and women in uniform — any of whom face hostile fire daily —then the helicopter is equally satisfactory for their commander. The same can be said for Vice President (former Marine general) Anthony Zinni.

• The proposed aircraft are designed for kings, not for presidents. Unlike George W. Bush, President Obama does not view the office of the president as a throne intended for royalty or multi-millionaire corporate titans. Thus, our new president sees no need to be transported short distances in regal splendor.

• Finally, and most importantly, the Republicans have overspent federal tax revenues by $2 trillion in the last seven years. To get money for new helicopters for the president we will have to borrow from the Chinese, Japanese and Europeans.

No one wishes to deny the president the limousines, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft that he needs in his roles as chief executive and as commander-in-chief of the armed forces. But that doesn’t mean
we should waste money just because it is so easy to borrow. The $11.2 billion that the Bush administration is projecting for 28 new helicopters will have to be paid, either by current taxpayers or by future generations. That is something the borrow-and-spend Republicans refuse to acknowledge.

Sources: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/vh-60.htm.

http://www.generalzinni.com/

Gary Jacobsen lives in Woodbridge.