OK, but wage war from the air? What the heck for? Who thinks that the presidential helo - with the president onboard - is going to flutter it's way onto a battlefield? And why do we need 28 of them? Do they anticipate us having 28 presidents at one time? One - and a couple backups - is plenty.
The program's original cost estimate was $6.1 billion. GOOD GRIEF! $6.1 billion for 28 helicopters! But wait, now the estimate is $11.2 billion for these things! We can get at least two or three brand-new super-modern nuclear aircraft carriers for that sort of money, you know, an AIRCRAFT CARRIER, a thousand feet long, weighing 100,000 tons, a crew of 4,000 plus, and capable of carrying way more than a hundred of those itty-bitty helicopters with their two-man crews.
INCREDIBLE... Three or four of these...
Or 28 of these...
What a difficult choice to make for those Washington big BIG BIG spenders.
Gimme a break... this is just another giant ripoff by our defense contracting industry. EACH of of these helos would cost more than the present already incredibly expensive presidential 747.
The Obama administration now must determine if the project is essential to national security and if there are alternatives that would cost less.Alternatives that would cost less? Are they serious? There a probably a thousand alternatives that would cost less - billions less - and still do the same job... But these nimrods are too stooopid to realize it, or too bought-off to acknowledge it.
Let's just have an aircraft carrier steam up the Potomac River anytime the pres needs a lift. It's got radar, anti-missile everything, 100 fighter aircraft for protection, and a half-dozen or so helicopters on board for personal transportation. We would save billions.
We are being so screwed by this federal government.
9 comments:
I don't disagree with your ranting, but since I had this project several years ago, I can give you some background.
The main reason for getting new helos is to replace the existing aged fleet of CH-3s. These things have already been upgraded and refurbed more than is recommended. They are maxed out on weight, electrical generation and power. They need to be replaced with birds that are not based on a 35 year old airframe.
Leather seats and a boatload of commo gear makes up a big part of the cost.
You need 35 to replace the existing fleet which includes a handful of CH-3s and a bunch of UH-60s. You need spares for the VP (can't ride with the Pres) and for entourage (lots of them). Pickup by helo is preferable to shutting down the entire DC traffic grid every time the POTUS leaves the white house.
Could they get by with 20? probably. Remember this was a govt procurement. They always ask for more than they need so when some gets cut for budget reasons they can look like team players.
The CH-3s will get scraped. The UH-60s will get returned to the Army instead of their buying new ones to replace worn out and combat losses.
It is specified in the requirements document that the door has to be big enough for the POTUS to look presidential when entering and egressing. No more bumping heads or stooping over.
Fine and dandy Roci...
I agree a new fleet is needed, but 11 BILLION dollars?
One billion would be excessive.
When anybody can get themselves a cellphone with clear channel two-way communications anywhere around the world for under fifty bucks, blaming the astronomical cost on comm gear becomes ludicrous.
The cost a a Sikorsky S92 multi mission platform helocopter is 15.3 million dollars. 28 of them would cost 428 million, slightly over the estimated 400 million they want to pay for just one of these new helos.
If we can't get the interior and the comm gear for 28 copters for 575 million dollars (making the total cost 1 billion dollars), something is seriously wrong.
The remaining ten billion could be used to replace badly needed military units.
"Meet the new boss...Same as the old boss."
In 10 years, they'll print our money on toilet paper, so as to more accurately reflect its worth.
Stuff always costs more when it is gold plated. Gold plating on a helicopter is heavy. This is a lot of rice bowls being filled from this program.
A helicopter that can withstand a nuclear blast? You bet that is going to cost some serious coin.
Just think of it as a stimulus package and 11 billion is cheap.
Hmmm...
A helicopter that can withstand a nuclear blast?
Trying to design an aircraft that can do such a thing is a fool's errand. Nothing can withstand such an event if it is close enough, and anything can, if it is far enough away... Or if the blast did not occur.
And there's the key. There was a time when our presidents were welcome everywhere, and not in danger from anybody, other than an occasional crackpot like Squeaky Fromm and her ilk.
Not so today. America has interfered with and disrupted so many nations, has created so many enemies that hate us beyond understanding, that our president must be protected by over 20,000 heavily-armed personnel 24/7, must travel in armor-plated vehicles, and fly around in billion-dollar gold-plated helicopters.
Change our attitude. Let the rest of the world go in whatever direction it wants. Stay out of their internal operations.
Follow George Washington's advice... avoid foreign intrigues.
We have no business trying to run or control other peoples and other nations, so let's just mind our own business, protect our own interests, and nuts to everybody else.
For startes, quit propping up places South Korea and Tiawan. Stop supporting lost causes like Israel. Quit trying to buy friends around the world with billions and billions of dollars in foerign aid and giveaways. Quit arming petty little dictators. Just step back and disengage from all the insanity around the world.
We can't keep doing what we are doing and survive. Even the non-caring and unconcerned amongst us must realize that by now.
If we mind our own business, If we quit interfering around the world, if we quit arming nutty little nations that kill their citizenss and neighbors with reckless abandon, next thing you know... The president won't need 28 $400,000,000 helicopters.
Of course, that ain't gonna happen. Our present federal government believes it's duty is to run the world. so nothing will change until we collapse totally, which may actually be happening as we discuss all this.
Pass the popcorn.
And by the way, lead is only one electron lighter than gold... and WAY cheaper.
But not "presidential"
LOL... good point... theres always that human ego to consider...
When a nuclear device goes bang, three kinds of radiation unfriendly to us humans are created, Gamma, Beta and Alpha.
Gamma is instantaneous and the most deadly. but if you're far enough away to say "Holy Crap!"(or something similiar)Gamma is not your problem. Gamma will cause all manner of material to become highly radioactive at and near ground zero, and those materials will remain deadly for thousands of years. Best to avoid.
however, the inverse square law does apply, so the danger from Gamma drops rapidly with distance to background levels.
Beta is the second most deadly. It can penetrate skin, thin paper, items of clothing, stuff like that. It will kill you as dead as the Gamma will, it will just take a bit longer. But Beta has a half-life of fifteen minutes, so the vast majority of Beta radiation goes up with the mushroom cloud, and by the time it drifts back down, it's harmless.
Alpha, the weakest of the three, turns out to be the most dangerous to survivors. Almost anything will block Alpha, skin, a piece of paper, other simliiar materials. But if you injest it in the air you breathe, or in your food or water in sufficient quanity, it will kill you... slowly.
Alpha must contaminate physical particles such as dust or fog or mist to become a threat, so breathing properly filterd air, injesting food and water that was safely sealed and protected, is a highly recommended post-bang habit to acquire. Even a wet army blanket to filter the air you breathe is sufficent to protect you. You must do it for a minimum of two weeks, Alpha's half-life.
So, the prez's hi-tech helo does not need gold or lead shielding. Why? Because if you're close enough to ground zero to take damage from that instantaneous Gamma burst, you're WAY too close to the heat - which will fry you - and too close not to escape the blast shockwave. Sorry - gold or no gold - fried prez.
As a result, one single dollar spent on gold-plating is a wasted dollar. It will not help save anybody, much less the president
That's why trying to build a nuke-proof helo for the prez is a fools errand, no such helo can ever exist.
I once worked for a Corporation that manufactured radiation detection equipment of all kinds, sold mostly to the governmnet for all mammer of high prices. As one of the Calibration people that had to use sources as high as 50,000 rems, we were required to take night courses in the local college on atomic energy and radiation and its effects, so I'm not just blowin' smoke.
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