Reports: Sikorsky back in play for search and rescue

A defense analyst publicly assailed the U.S. Air Force for reportedly considering the purchase of more than 110 modified Black Hawk helicopters from Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. for use in search-and-rescue operations.

Any such contract would be a boon for Sikorsky”™s future, even as its Stratford headquarters booms today with record revenue and profits from military demand for its helicopters to support the military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. Sikorsky is the largest employer in Fairfield County with more than 9,000 workers, and is a subsidiary of Hartford-based United Technologies Corp.

In 2006, Sikorsky was beat out by Boeing Co. for a $15 billion contract to manufacturer more than 140 helicopters, to replace its aging fleet of Sikorsky Pave Low helicopters. The Air Force chose the Boeing HH-47 Chinook over the proposed Sikorsky HH-92 and a competing helicopter from Lockheed Martin Corp. and AgustaWestland.

Sikorsky subsequently protested the contract award on grounds that Air Force procurers did not sufficiently consider maintenance provisions in its offer that it said would result in lower costs. The Obama administration canceled the search-and-rescue replacement program last year, citing a range of concerns.

According to the trade publication Flight International, the Air Force is now considering purchasing Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters for the program, which would come cheaper than those proposed in the initial bid competition but lack some key attributes originally sought by the Air Force.

A subsequent story published in Inside the Air Force said no decision has been made on how to replace the existing Pave Lows, but did not rule out the possibility of a Sikorsky model, attributing the information to the same senior procurement official cited by Flight International.

“Clearly, Air Force plans are trending away from the more capable alternatives considered only a few years ago, when Boeing’s HH-47 Chinook was selected in a three-way competition with the AgustaWestland EH-101 and Sikorsky H-92,” wrote Loren Thompson, an analyst with the Lexington Institute, an Arlington, Va.-based think tank, in an issue brief. “What”™s so odd about this process is that an ”˜analysis of alternatives”™ conducted by the Air Force in 2002 cast doubt on the suitability of the H-60 for the mission given crew workloads, lack of defensive features, and other deficiencies ”¦ One thing is clear, though: the H-60s the service is contemplating buying are far inferior to HH-47, EH-101 and V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor alternatives that are readily available.”