Foreign Presidential Helo Fleet

[rare21]

Saw this on the news today and wanted to see what everyone thought. The next generation of helos that will fly the president around will be made by mostly foreign manufacturers. Its under Lockheed Martin (which beat Sikorsky for the bid) but many of the structural components will be foreign made. Looks close to an H-53 with more space and 3 engines. I wonder what the HMX-1 guys think.

 

[EODDave]

How many parts of the T-45 do you think are made in the US?

 

[rare21]

a presidential Helo is not a T-45. To have it foreign made, the specifics of its defense systems will not be as safe as if it were made on American soil and kept here. I for one want the American President to ride in something made in the good ole US of A.

 

[Broadsword2004]

Maybe just certain individual parts will be foreign-made, but the overall project assembled in America (i.e. the design itself is here). The Secret Service are really touchy about the security of the stuff that protects the President.

 

[Grant]

I'm not wild about the idea either... but about all we can do is email our congressmen.

 

[Flash]

The US101 is the manufacturers designation for the American version of the EH101. It was developed by AugustaWestland, a joint Italian and British company.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US101

The S-92 was a private development by the Sikorsky company (not developed for a specific military requirement).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_H-92

Here is an article about the competition.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050128/bs_afp/usbushhelicopter_050128235115

To have it foreign made, the specifics of its defense systems will not be as safe as if it were made on American soil and kept here.

Like the article says, two-thirds of the US101 will be made in the US. Here is a quote from the article on the specifics:

About two thirds of the Lockheed Martin helicopter would be built in the United States, and a third in Britain and Italy, the officials said. The primary fuselage and the main rotor blade would be built in Britain and gear boxes and other dynamic components in Italy, they said.

I am certain the defense systems will be made in the US. I would think the Italians and British, arguably our two closest allies on the war on terrorism, would disagree with you saying that their helicopter wasn't made as well as an American one.

Maybe the best helicopter won?

 

[zab1001]

a presidential Helo is not a T-45. To have it foreign made, the specifics of its defense systems will not be as safe as if it were made on American soil and kept here. I for one want the American President to ride in something made in the good ole US of A.

defense system?

like an ALE-47? do HMX-1 helos even have "eyeballs and buckets"? (USMC helo guys, you know?).

 

[phrogdriver]

The foreign content of each was about the same.Our obsession with domestic production has caused us to buy some weapons that aren't as good andd cost more. We need to support some capabilities domestically, but subsidizing Sikorsky isn't the government's job.

 

[Brett327]

defense system?

like an ALE-47? do HMX-1 helos even have "eyeballs and buckets"? (USMC helo guys, you know?).

I would be very surprised if the countermeasures on presidential aircraft weren't way better than the -47 system. They probably have some directed energy weapon straight out of Star Trek

Brett

 

[zab1001]

I would be very surprised if the countermeasures on presidential aircraft weren't way better than the -47 system. They probably have some directed energy weapon straight out of Star Trek

Brett

ok, I saw the on there. point taken.

reagrdless, countermeasures systems are usually add-ons done homeland style. I sincerely doubt any foreign manufacturers are going to install these features.

 

[phrogdriver]

And no one here drives a Japanese car, either. Lockheed-Martin is an American company, for starters, but I'll proceed on the theory that this doesn't count. Seeing as Sikorsky is the only medium-to-heavy-lift helicopter manufacturer in the US, how would you guys structure the competition? If there were other American-made birds that made the Key Performance Perameters for HMX, they would have been in the mix, but there weren't. A one-company competition isn't a competition. The President isn't going to fly in a Schweitzer, Robinson, or Bell. Those are other US helo companies, and for those of you who aren't familiar, their models aren't very roomy.

 

[Brett327]

ok, I saw the on there. point taken.

Yeah, I had to add the smiley face else be accused of wearing a tinfoil hat.

Brett

 

[rare21]

I for one will not drive a Japanese car or a German one for that matter. Case in point: Mitsubishi used American slave labor during WWII to help increase their empire. Now how bout you guess what companies like Volkswagon used during WWII to increase their empire?

 

[kmac]

Rare- Continuing under that logic, I guess we shouldn't buy anything British. Then again, I guess we shouldn't buy anything American since the colonies were British. And since we once were at war with the French, I guess that rules them out also. So ok, since we can't use the T-45 to train future jet Navy Fighter Pilots (pun there), now what are we going to do? Of course the F/A-18 can't use the ITALD at all since it's made by the Israelis. The list just goes on and on...

 

[rare21]

you want to give money to those corps then go ahead. i wont have that on my conscious. who said anything about us being at war with someone? Those two examples used the deaths, sweat and tears of people to prosper. would you wear clothes knowingly made at sweat shops? i hope not.