Aircraft

US President's future Marine One takes to the skies for the first time

US President's future Marine One takes to the skies for the first time
Artist's rendering of the VH-92A
Artist's rendering of the VH-92A
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Artist's rendering of the VH-92A
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Artist's rendering of the VH-92A

The US President's next official rotorcraft ride has made its maiden flight as a 250-hour flight test program for the Sikorsky VH-92A helicopter begins. According to Sikorsky parent company Lockheed Martin, the future Marine One took to the skies at Lockheed's Owego, New York facilities on July 28, followed by a second flight the same day at Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford, Connecticut. The total sortie time of one hour included hover control checks, low speed flight, and making a pass of the airfield.

Operating under the official call sign of Marine One, the VH-92A will be used to ferry the US President, Vice President, and other officials. It's being developed under a US$1.24 billion US Navy Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) contract for the US Marine Corps' VH-92A Presidential Helicopter Replacement Program awarded on May 7, 2014. Under the contract, Sikorsky will provide two test/trainer aircraft and four production aircraft with the option for an additional 17 helicopters.

The VH-92A is based on the dual-engine, medium-lift S-92A commercial variant helicopter, which has flown over one million hours with over 200 customers in 10 countries. It replaces the current Marine One fleet made up of VH-3D Sea Kings and VH-60N WhiteHawks built in the 1960s and 1980s, which are now obsolete and long past their service lives.

The helicopters will be assembled at Sikorsky's S-92 production facility in Coatesville, Pennsylvania before being sent on to a secure facility in Stratford, Connecticut for modifications. These include integrated communications and mission systems, defensive countermeasures against missiles, hardening against electromagnetic pulses from nuclear explosions, a comfortable presidential interior, and in-flight toilets.

The current aircraft, designated Engineering Development Model 1 (EDM-1), will undergo flight tests over the next year, during which it will be joined by a second prototype, EDM-2. The first operational VH-92A will enter into service in 2020.

"This first flight of the VH-92A configured test aircraft is an important milestone for the program," says Spencer Elani, director VH-92A program at Sikorsky. "Having independently tested the aircraft's components and subsystems, we are now moving forward to begin full aircraft system qualification via the flight test program."

Source: Lockheed Martin

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