VXX Deal Landed

As expected, the Navy awarded the VXX presidential helicopter replacement program contract to Sikorsky Aircraft on Wednesday.

Under the $1.2 billion fixed-price incentive engineering and manufacturing development contract, Sikorsky will provide six test aircraft, four of which will become operational assets, according to a Navy announcement.

From the DOD announcement:

Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Connecticut, is being awarded a $1,244,677,064 fixed-price-incentive-firm target contract for the engineering and manufacturing development phase of the Presidential Helicopter Replacement program. This contract provides for the procurement of six test aircraft and the associated support equipment, integration of mature government-defined mission systems, a training system including a flight training device and a maintenance training device, logistics, engineering, and test and evaluation support. Work will be performed in Stratford, Connecticut, (62.22 percent); Owego, New York, (19.38 percent); Coatesville, Pennsylvania, (14.25 percent); Orlando, Florida, (1.44 percent); Phoenix, Arizona, (.86 percent); Cedar Rapids, Iowa (.85 percent); Vergennes, Vermont, (.53 percent); and Torrance, California, (.47 percent), and is expected to be completed in October 2020. Fiscal 2014 research, development, test and evaluation, Navy funds in the amount of $42,000,000 are being obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals and one offer was received. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00019-14-C-0050).

Options could lead to the production of an additional 17 operational aircraft.

InsideDefense.com previewed the award on Tuesday:

“The contract award will be announced on Wednesday,” Rear Adm. Cindy Jaynes, program executive officer for air anti-submarine warfare, assault and special mission programs, told reporters at a sit-down in West Palm Beach on May 5. “So stand by.”

A Sikorksy-Lockheed Martin team remains the sole bidder for the VXX program, as Boeing, a separate Bell-Boeing team and a Northrop Grumman-AgustaWestland team dropped out of the competition last year.

Aircraft deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2016, with initial helicopters slated for testing, Capt. Dean Peters told reporters after his presentation at the Navy League's annual Sea-Air-Space symposium on April 9. Initial operating capability for the program is slated for late 2020, with full operational capability set for late 2022.

The Navy will procure 21 operational aircraft total and two test assets, Peters said. He declined to offer further details about the program, but Samir Mehta, Sikorsky president of defense systems and services, said in March that Sikorsky's commercial S-92 will be the base aircraft for the VXX.