thedrifter
08-24-06, 07:32 AM
Marines Could Use Sikorsky Copters
Think Tanks Say Two Choppers Would Reinforce Corps' Battered Fleet, But Money Is Issue
By ERIC GERSHON
Courant Staff Writer
August 24 2006
Sikorsky Aircraft helicopters made for the U.S. Navy and Canada could reinforce a battered and shrinking U.S. Marine Corps helicopter fleet, according to a pair of Washington-area think tanks - if only the Marines could afford them.
The Marines need $12 billion to replace equipment that has grown unreliable due to age and heavy use in Iraq, including helicopters, says a joint report issued Wednesday by the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress and the more conservative Lexington Institute.
The report's authors specifically cite Stratford-based Sikorsky's MH-60S and H-92 Superhawk as aircraft that could give the Marines fresh legs as they await delivery of new helicopters not expected until 2015 and beyond. The authors also consider the Sikorsky helicopters more dependable than the MV-22 Osprey, a combat aircraft built by a partnership of Bell and Boeing.
"I think the helicopter situation is dire," said Max A. Bergmann, a co-author of the report, called "Marine Corps Equipment After Iraq."
Whether Congress and the Marines will act on the report, and how Sikorsky will try to capitalize on it, are yet to be seen.
For now, the Marine Corps remains "fully committed to the MV-22 Osprey program," and plans to refurbish its current heavy-lift helicopters while awaiting its successor, a Marine Corps spokeswoman said by email from headquarters.
"During this transition there will be no degradation of combat capability," 1st Lt. Blanca E. Binstock wrote.
The report's authors and some politicians aren't so sure.
"The administration needs to heed the advice of our military commanders and defense experts and plot a strategy to repair, replace, and modernize our worn-out arsenal of vehicles and helicopters," said Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, who has sponsored an amendment to the defense appropriations bill that could give the Army and Marine Corps an extra $6.7 billion in the current fiscal year. Other senators have sponsored similar bills.
Even a $12 billion infusion would restore the Marines only to their level of preparedness before the Iraq war began, according to the report. The Corps will need $5 billion more every year Marines remain in Iraq, for helicopters, armored vehicles and other equipment, the report says.
"Like the strain on its personnel, the Marines' inventory of equipment exhibits increasing signs of wear and tear," the report says. "This stress is already eroding the readiness of units outside Iraq, and could eventually impede operations within Iraq."
The Marines have not approached Sikorsky about buying MH-60S's, which are made for the Navy, or the Superhawk, which is in production for the Canadian military, Sikorsky spokesman Ed Steadham said.
"This report is not coming from the Marine Corps," he said. "It's coming from a third-party agency, so we don't have requests from the Marine Corps."
The same think tanks issued a similar study about the Army's equipment earlier this year.
Steadham said he could not evaluate Sikorsky's ability to fill a hypothetical order of aircraft from the Marine Corps. But Sikorsky is always "ready to help" a customer, he said.
Sikorsky services the Marine Corps' fleet of about 150 CH-53E Super Stallion heavy-lift helicopters. The company stopped making them in 1999. In April, Sikorsky signed a $3 billion development contract to produce its successor, the CH-53K. The Marines could order up to 156 of them, Steadham said. None will be ready till 2015, he said.
The Marines can't wait that long, the report says.
"If it were up to me, I would say you ought to buy a couple hundred right now," said Lawrence J. Korb, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress who served as an assistant secretary of defense during Ronald Reagan's Presidency.
Sikorsky might not be the only defense contractor able to supply the Marine Corps with "stop-gap" helicopters, he acknowledged.
Said Korb, "We're looking at what's out there and available and what you can get quickly."
Contact Eric Gershon at egershon@courant.com
Ellie
Think Tanks Say Two Choppers Would Reinforce Corps' Battered Fleet, But Money Is Issue
By ERIC GERSHON
Courant Staff Writer
August 24 2006
Sikorsky Aircraft helicopters made for the U.S. Navy and Canada could reinforce a battered and shrinking U.S. Marine Corps helicopter fleet, according to a pair of Washington-area think tanks - if only the Marines could afford them.
The Marines need $12 billion to replace equipment that has grown unreliable due to age and heavy use in Iraq, including helicopters, says a joint report issued Wednesday by the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress and the more conservative Lexington Institute.
The report's authors specifically cite Stratford-based Sikorsky's MH-60S and H-92 Superhawk as aircraft that could give the Marines fresh legs as they await delivery of new helicopters not expected until 2015 and beyond. The authors also consider the Sikorsky helicopters more dependable than the MV-22 Osprey, a combat aircraft built by a partnership of Bell and Boeing.
"I think the helicopter situation is dire," said Max A. Bergmann, a co-author of the report, called "Marine Corps Equipment After Iraq."
Whether Congress and the Marines will act on the report, and how Sikorsky will try to capitalize on it, are yet to be seen.
For now, the Marine Corps remains "fully committed to the MV-22 Osprey program," and plans to refurbish its current heavy-lift helicopters while awaiting its successor, a Marine Corps spokeswoman said by email from headquarters.
"During this transition there will be no degradation of combat capability," 1st Lt. Blanca E. Binstock wrote.
The report's authors and some politicians aren't so sure.
"The administration needs to heed the advice of our military commanders and defense experts and plot a strategy to repair, replace, and modernize our worn-out arsenal of vehicles and helicopters," said Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, who has sponsored an amendment to the defense appropriations bill that could give the Army and Marine Corps an extra $6.7 billion in the current fiscal year. Other senators have sponsored similar bills.
Even a $12 billion infusion would restore the Marines only to their level of preparedness before the Iraq war began, according to the report. The Corps will need $5 billion more every year Marines remain in Iraq, for helicopters, armored vehicles and other equipment, the report says.
"Like the strain on its personnel, the Marines' inventory of equipment exhibits increasing signs of wear and tear," the report says. "This stress is already eroding the readiness of units outside Iraq, and could eventually impede operations within Iraq."
The Marines have not approached Sikorsky about buying MH-60S's, which are made for the Navy, or the Superhawk, which is in production for the Canadian military, Sikorsky spokesman Ed Steadham said.
"This report is not coming from the Marine Corps," he said. "It's coming from a third-party agency, so we don't have requests from the Marine Corps."
The same think tanks issued a similar study about the Army's equipment earlier this year.
Steadham said he could not evaluate Sikorsky's ability to fill a hypothetical order of aircraft from the Marine Corps. But Sikorsky is always "ready to help" a customer, he said.
Sikorsky services the Marine Corps' fleet of about 150 CH-53E Super Stallion heavy-lift helicopters. The company stopped making them in 1999. In April, Sikorsky signed a $3 billion development contract to produce its successor, the CH-53K. The Marines could order up to 156 of them, Steadham said. None will be ready till 2015, he said.
The Marines can't wait that long, the report says.
"If it were up to me, I would say you ought to buy a couple hundred right now," said Lawrence J. Korb, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress who served as an assistant secretary of defense during Ronald Reagan's Presidency.
Sikorsky might not be the only defense contractor able to supply the Marine Corps with "stop-gap" helicopters, he acknowledged.
Said Korb, "We're looking at what's out there and available and what you can get quickly."
Contact Eric Gershon at egershon@courant.com
Ellie