Marine One fleet to get $1.24B upgrade; Sikorsky scores contract

The president’s Marine One fleet of helicopters is getting an upgrade — a $1.24 billion upgrade.

Sikorsky helicopters secured a multibillion-dollar contract with the Navy May 7 to build six test aircraft for the commander in chief, with the first to be completed by 2020, Stars and Stripes reported. The ultimate goal is to replace the entire presidential fleet with twenty-one new helicopters.

“We are honored by this news and the vote of confidence in the Sikorsky team and the proven S-92 platform,” said Sikorsky President Mick Maurer, Stars and Stripes reported. “We stand ready to deliver the next Marine One, the world’s most advanced executive transport helicopter.”

Sikorsky Aircraft Co. is teaming up with Lockheed Martin to complete the task, with most of the construction taking place in Connecticut, Stars and Stripes reported.

“Sikorsky has long been synonymous with Marine One, the presidential helicopter. Every president since Eisenhower has flown in a Sikorsky, made right in Connecticut,” said Democratic Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of Conn. “I am thrilled to see this contract come back to Stratford where it has always belonged and where it should have gone in the first place.”