The U.S. Department of Defense wants to spend $3 billion in 2009 on Black Hawk and Sea Hawk helicopters from Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., 4 percent less than what the Pentagon is spending this year for new Sikorsky choppers.
Based in Stratford, Sikorsky is the largest employer in Fairfield County. Parent company United Technologies Corp. is the largest in Connecticut.
After buying 78 Black Hawks for $1.5 billion this year, the U.S. Air Force wants $1.1 billion in 2009 for production of 63 more Black Hawks.
The U.S. Navy, meanwhile, is requesting $1.9 billion for two variants of Sikorsky”™s Sea Hawk helicopter, a $250 million increase that does not quite cover the shortfall created by the reduced Black Hawk spending.
Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin Corp. is providing avionics for 31 of the Sea Hawks, performing the work at its facility in Owego, N.Y.
Sikorsky also received continued funding for a heavy-lift helicopter it is designing for the Marine Corps, called the CH-53K.
Both Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin successfully convinced the U.S. Air Force to solicit new bids for 140 search-and-rescue helicopters, program dubbed CSAR-X that could result in up to $15 billion in revenue. The Air Force originally picked Chicago-based Boeing Co. to replace its existing Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters used to rescue downed pilots.
The Air Force regards the CSAR-X program among its five most important procurement options in 2009, along with a long-delayed fleet of tankers; space-based infrared and communications systems; the F-35 joint-strike fighter; and a new bomber.
As reported in the Jan. 28 edition of the Fairfield County Business Journal, the U.S. government reportedly has considered resurrecting Sikorsky as the prime contractor to replace the White House”™s fleet of presidential transport helicopters.
In 2005, the Pentagon chose Lockheed Martin and AgustaWestland to build a fleet for the White House. Despite delays Lockheed Martin has experienced in the VH-71 program, the Pentagon is requesting $1 billion in funding in 2009.
