The Marines flew a U.S. president in a new helicopter for the first time in decades.
On Monday, a VH-92A Patriot assigned to the “Nighthawks” of Marine Helicopter Squadron (HMX) One flew President Joe Biden from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport to Solider Field to speak at the Democratic National Convention.
The VH-92A is the first new platform designated to use the “Marine One” callsign since the 1989 introduction of the VH-60 White Hawk executive transport and more than 60 years since the better known VH-3 Sea King took over the role as the presidential helicopter.
The current VH-3D variant, modified several times, has been the primary presidential helicopter since the Gerald Ford administration.
Biden’s Chicago trip comes after a more than two-decade gestation period for a new presidential helicopter.
Earlier this month, Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sikorsky delivered the last of 23 planned VH-92As, a variant of the S-92 commercial helicopter, to the Marines, according to a statement from Naval Air Systems Command.
“Sikorsky’s highly-skilled employees have shown their ability to innovate, manufacture and deliver these next-generation VH-92A presidential helicopters that will be operating worldwide in support of presidential missions well into the future,” Richard Benton, Sikorsky vice president and general manager, said in a Monday Lockheed statement.
The Pentagon has spent more than 20 years trying to replace the VH-3D after starting the VXX program in 2002. In 2005, Naval Air Systems Command awarded Lockheed Martin a contract for 28 VH-71 Kestrels, variants of the AgustaWestland AW101, for the presidential helo mission. The program was canceled in 2009 over cost overruns.
NAVAIR awarded helicopter builder Sikorsky the initial contract for the first six presidential helicopter in 2014 for $5 billion. The first variant flew in 2017.
After the first flight, “the helicopter subsequently failed to meet reliability, availability, and maintenance thresholds, and although it was credited with achieving initial operational capability on 28 December 2021, it was not approved for presidential transport because of problems with the encrypted communication system and other issues,” wrote Norman Polmar for Proceedings in February.
While the airframes are similar to their military counterparts, the presidential helicopters are heavily modified to include, “ballistic armor, radar jamming and deception systems to deter antiaircraft missiles, hardened electronics against a nuclear electromagnetic pulse, and encrypted telecommunication and videoconferencing systems,” Polmar wrote.
In addition to reliability and communication system problems, the heat from VH-92A also can damage landing surfaces – including the White House South Lawn, according to a 2020 Government Accountability Office report.
“In a September 2018 training event, the Navy found that VH-92A’s exhaust damaged a [White House] landing zone. Program officials stated that the training event did not represent a typical operational scenario since the lawn was exposed to the helicopter’s exhaust for a longer period than it would be under normal operating conditions,” reads the report.
As to when a VH-92A will make its debut as “Marine One” at the While House is still an open question.
The Marines told Flight Global in April, “VH-92A tasking for presidential support will be at the discretion of the White House Military Office.”
