Jay Clemens
Lockheed Martin is set to begin the assembly, test and evaluation for the VH-92A presidential helicopter replacement program after the company completed the program’s critical design review stage.
The VH-92A is designed to transport the U.S. president and vice president and other officials and a team comprised of Sikorsky and the Naval Air Systems Command conducted the design review in July to demonstrate the program’s compliance with system requirements, Lockheed said Monday.
VH-92A is scheduled for initial fielding in 2020 and production is set to complete in 2023 through Sikorsky’s production S-92 aircraft, with inclusion of government set mission systems and an executive interior.
“This milestone is an important achievement for our program and demonstrates Sikorsky and NAVAIR are well aligned,†said Spencer Elani, director for VH-92A helicopter program at Sikorsky.
Sikorsky, a Lockheed company, was awarded a $1.24 billion contract by the U.S. Navy on May 7, 2014 to build 21 operational and two test aircraft under the program.
NAVAIR and collaborators from government and industry participated in the technical demonstration.
