Black Hawk Marine One US Navy on May 3 issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Presidential Helicopter Replacement Program (VXX), ...
 |
| Black Hawk Marine One |
US Navy on May 3 issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Presidential Helicopter Replacement Program (VXX), to replace the aging fleet of VH-3D Sea King and VH-60N White Hawk helicopters operated by Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1).
Proposals are due in 90 days with a goal to award a fixed-price incentive engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) contract, with production options, by mid-calendar year 2014.
The Marine Corps currently operates eleven VH-3D and eight VH-60N helicopters; the VH-3Ds were originally placed in service in 1974 and 1975, and the VH-60s entered service in the 1980s. Both aircraft are well past their original 20 year service life expectations.
But the VH-71 program that was intended to replace the fleet with a platform based on the AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin was cancelled in 2009 after four years of increasing development costs that were projected to hit $13 billion, double the initial budget for the project.
During the EMD phase, the selected contractor will provide six test aircraft, four of which will become operational aircraft. During the production phase, the RFP calls for 17 operational aircraft (four in low-rate initial production (LRIP) 1, five in LRIP 2 and eight in full-rate production), for a fleet total of 21 aircraft.
Meantime, AgustaWestland’s original partner on the VH-71 program, Lockheed Martin, has partnered with Sikorsky to offer an S-92 platform for the Marine One helicopter fleet.
