[Scan-DC] Possible New Marine-One Helo

[Denis Trapp]

 From today's USA Today...

Presidential helicopter war
By John Machacek Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON =97 As the battle over who will build a new fleet of Marine One=
=20
helicopters heated up last year, Rep. Rob Simmons, R-Conn., worried that=20
Sikorsky Aircraft in his home state was losing ground.

Lockheed Martin, one of the world's largest aerospace and defense=20
contractors, had begun running ads in newspapers and at subway stops near=20
the Pentagon as part of a lobbying campaign to oust tiny Sikorsky as the=20
presidential helicopter's builder. Lockheed also brought lawmakers to its=20
plants in Owego, N.Y., for briefings and rides on its helicopter.

Sikorsky, which has had the contract for 46 years, had not yet used ads to=
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influence Pentagon decision-makers.

But Simmons called for United Technologies, Sikorsky's parent company, to=20
match Lockheed dollar-for-dollar on publicity. He also urged the company to=
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set up a mock-up of its helicopter near the Capitol.

"I don't want Sikorsky to be left in the dust because they aren't playing=20
the media game," Simmons says.

So go the helicopter wars =97 a high-stakes battle for the prestige of=20
providing a fleet used to ferry presidents almost daily from the White=20
House to nearby locales or to Air Force One. Both companies say they want=20
to win the $1.6 billion contract on price, capability and performance and=20
play down lobbying and politics.

But because Lockheed has teamed with a British-Italian consortium for its=20
proposal, the battle has even re-ignited the "Buy America" debate and=20
played into international politics.

"At a time when people are losing their jobs to foreign competition, I will=
=20
not accept presidents of the United States flying around in a foreign=20
helicopter," Simmons says.

On the other side, New York lawmakers are telling the Bush administration=20
that the contract would bring hundreds of new jobs to upstate New York =97 a=
=20
region that has hemorrhaged manufacturing jobs in the past decade.

Lockheed Martin's entry in the competition is the US101, the U.S. version=20
of a three-engine helicopter built by AgustaWestland, a British-Italian=20
manufacturer, and used by five NATO countries and Japan.

Sikorsky is proposing the VH-92, a version of its new two-engine S-92 that=
=20
already has won a top aviation award and praise as the "world's safest=20
helicopter."

The contract for 23 helicopters is a prestigious but relatively small prize=
=20
among defense contracts. Still, Sikorsky has gotten the word that the=20
winner may gain the inside track for future helicopters needed by the U.S.=
=20
military.

Lockheed officials say their Owego plant could gain up to 750 engineering=20
and technical jobs if it wins. The financial health of Sikorsky, which=20
employs 3,200 people at three Connecticut plants and builds only=20
helicopters, could be at stake if it doesn't keep the contract.

Neither company would discuss how much it is spending on lobbying and media=
=20
for the contract. Records filed with Congress show Lockheed has been=20
spending about $6 million annually for all of its Washington lobbying=20
compared with about $3 million by United Technologies.

Sikorsky did not start running ads in defense publications until last fall=
=20
and only recently put them at subway stops. But company officials have said=
=20
they would not attempt to match Lockheed's media spending.

"We don't think the Pentagon will base its decision on who creates the=20
better ads or puts them in more subway stations," says Scott Seligman, a=20
United Technologies spokesman.

Still, the company has hired outside lobbyists to help with their bid. "I=20
wouldn't be surprised when all is said and done that both sides will have a=
=20
hundred lobbyists assigned to" the helicopter contract, says Rep. Sherwood=
=20
Boehlert, R-N.Y., whose district includes part of Owego.

The Navy's decision-making process is "hermetically sealed" from lobbying=20
and politics, says Loren Thompson, defense analyst at the Virginia-based=20
Lexington Institute. But as happens often on defense contracts, political=20
pressure could come into play if the administration gets drawn into the=20
competition. The loser could ask Congress to reverse the decision.

The battle is so politicized that British Prime Minister Tony Blair could=20
play a role. He has asked President Bush to "look favorably" on the=20
Lockheed proposal, which involves a British company. It's a move that some=
=20
see as a first step before calling in a favor for supporting Bush on the=20
Iraq war.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., says he suggested that Lockheed arrange for=20
Blair to call Bush directly just before the final decision is made.

Aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia of the Teal Group in Fairfax, Va.,=20
thinks the contract will go to Sikorsky unless Blair weighs in even more.

"What this comes down to is Tony Blair picking up the phone ... and quite=20
possibly George Bush deciding that he owes nothing to Lieberman's home=20
state," Aboulafia says, referring to Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn.

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Denis A.Trapp/N8WSH
SCAN@MEDIEVALBEAR.COM
BC769D/BC785D/BC780XLT
http://www.qsl.net/n8wsh
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