The Pentagon has quietly told the Navy to spend millions more on existing presidential helicopters so they can continue flying amid troubles in the development of the next-generation aircraft. A previously unreported program budget decision issued Dec. 17 by Defense Department Comptroller Tina Jonas adds $34 million to the service-life-extension program for existing "legacy" aircraft in the fiscal year 2009 budget, said a Pentagon source familiar with the directive. About $8 million of that money is for procurement and the...
