Patrick M. Dewar

Vice President, Lockheed Martin VH-71A Presidential Helicopter Program

PROGRAM: VH-71A PRESIDENTIAL HELICOPTER

SCOPE: 23 aircraft to replace the current "Marine One" fleet that provides helicopter services to the president.

BACKGROUND: The new presidential helicopter is a variant of AgustaWestland's EHlOl multimission helicopter. The Navy in January awarded a $1.7 billion contract to Lockheed Martin for all research and development, and production of the first five aircraft.

CORPORATE STRUCTURE: Lockheed Martin Systems Integration - Owego is prime contractor and systems integrator for the VH-71A program, which comprises approximately 200 contractors, including AgustaWestland, Bell Helicopter Textron, GE Aircraft Engines and ITT, in 41 stateshe coming year is a pivotal time for the program. We'll be focused on test and evaluation, the aircraft flight H Bi demonstrations and systems development. The Contractor Test Vehicle, which we use for engine integration and testing, is being evaluated in the high desert environment of California. A second aircraft, Test Vehicle-1 (TV-1), is operating from the Lockheed Martin Systems Integration facility in Owego, N.Y. TV-I is the first of seven test aircraft, and will be utilized as an avionics equipment and communications gear test bed for the presidential helicopter design.

A major step for us is the Critical Design Review to take place in December. Our purpose is to finalize the configuration for the five pilot production helicopters to be built in increment one, which will be largely nondevelopmental items (NDIs) based on the EHlOl.

Once that is successfully completed, we'll release designs to the production team and start buying or building hardware for the presidential fleet. These efforts will lead to the construction of the first three new-build test helicopters, which are scheduled for delivery to Owego in early 2007.

The 18 helicopters to be built in increment two will be fully operational aircraft with more capable GE engines, an upgraded gearbox, tail rotor and primary blades.

I believe all of us, including the Department of Defense and the Marine Corps, recognize the uniqueness of this program. Producing the increment one helicopters as NDIs is the only way the schedule could be met. It's a challenge, and the increment one helicopters will be assets in themselves.