Gee..surprise..TX 's Lockheed/Boeing "picked" to build Marine One

[rainbow4321]

Guess they picked the right amount of donation$ to give chimp...so did he throw another company into the mix just to make it LOOK LIKE it was not another no-bid contract scandal?


http://www.mysanantonio.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D87TE6S81.html


It's a long way from Amarillo to Washington, but local folks were closely following Friday's announcement about a new presidential helicopter.

The Navy's decision to pick Lockheed Martin Corp. and subcontractor Bell Helicopter Textron figures to be an economic and confidence boost for Fort Worth and Amarillo, where Bell plans to build the aircraft's frame.

"We're excited and happy," said John Teague, vice president of business development for the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce. "We think it's going to bring a lot of people here, and it's pretty prestigious to be building the helicopter for the president."
Gov. Rick Perry called the announcement "great news for Texas."

The contract will create about 150 jobs in Amarillo and another 150 in the Fort Worth area, said Bell spokesman Bob Leder. The company has about 7,200 workers in Texas. The Navy picked Lockheed over Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. to build 23 copies of Marine One. The first machine is expected to be finished in 2009, with all 23 built by late 2014

[Quetzal]

1. well Trans. Secretary Mineta was the former CEO of Lockheed Martin

[rainbow4321]

3. More spin on picking Lockheed

http://www.baytownsun.com/wire.lasso?report=/dynamic/stories/P/PRESIDENTIAL_HELICOPTERS?SITE=TXBAY&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


WASHINGTON (AP) -- A new fleet of presidential helicopters will be built by Lockheed Martin and its international partners, the Navy announced Friday, ending a fierce competition that had both political and international implications.

Saying the president "needs a more survivable helicopter while the nation engages in the global war on terrorism," John Young, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, said Lockheed met all of the security and technology requirements at the best price.

And some members of Congress criticized the decision to put the U.S. president in an aircraft that will be made partially overseas. It is difficult to understand why we would use U.S. tax dollars to fund the further development of foreign helicopter technology," said House Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.

"It looks like the U.S. Navy just shot down an American helicopter," said Rep. Rob Simmons, R-Conn. "This deal results in a net loss of American jobs. We're going to over this with a fine-toothed comb."
DeLauro added, "'Made in America' should mean something. The Defense Department has some explaining to do."

[Lone_Wolf]

5. Sour grapes... Simmons is just angry that Sikorsky didn't win

Sikorsky was Lockheed's competition. Much of the assembly would be done by Sikorsky in Conneticut.

[tx_dem41]

8. FWIW, he was a vice president at Lockheed....

not CEO.

http://www.asianamerican.net/bios/Mineta-Norman.html

[flordehinojos]

2. next president of the u.s. ought to just decommission anything built

in texas for the supreme bush idiot... the bushes have long tentacles and it would not be beyond them to bug anything just so to keep an ear on what it is being said by the next elected president (if there is ever another one) on Marine One or anywhere else.

[Lone_Wolf]

4. I think Lockheed won this contract on merits...

There's more to this story. The competition was Sikorsky whose helicopter was significantly smaller, didn't have many amenities (like a bathroom), and only had two engines as opposed to Lockheed's 3 engine design.

Schumer and Clinton along with Congressman Maurice Hinchey lobbied heavily for Lockheed to win this contract. It's bringing a significant number of high paying jobs to upstate NY where jobs are desparately needed. Final assembly of Marine One will be done in Owego, NY.

http://www.pressconnects.com/today/topstories/stories/to012905s144606.shtml



This is probably why Schumer and Clinton voted for Rice...

[TheOnRecord]

7. agreed

go lockheed

[moggie12]

10. The Defense Department procurement head was on C-SPAN

From the 10 minutes of it I watched last night, it sounded like Lockheed's proposal was truly superior -- from a cost and value standpoint.

[liveoaktx]

6. According to this DU link, part of it to be built overseas

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3024317

[Maiden England]

9. Woohooo! They are going to create so many jobs

Building the 5 presidential aircraft here in the US. Just those five mind. Not any more. After those five are built - those nice engineers, will just have to find something else to do.

Now the big business is the parts business, all the support for the aircraft, any guesses where that will be located (hint: not in the US)

But surely it would be sensible to have the parts in the US you ask? Well, not just for 5 aircraft, because you won't see the Lockheed aircraft carrying anyone other than the Chimp, because the FAA won't certify it as safe enough for civilian use.

The Sikorsky S-92. Maybe he didn't want it because there are some of the great unwashed flying in one probably right now in the gulf of mexico. Oh and its perfectly safe. AND if it wanted a bathroom because he couldn't make a 30 min journey without pissing in his diaper, there was plenty of room for one to be put in. They just didn't have it in the prototype.
As for s-92 parts and support, all US based. Gee, but that would be so the antithesis of chimpos policy, they couldn't have possibly have supported it.

BTW in the interest of full disclosure, I'm not even remotely biased, even though my hubby works on the first delivered production s-92. A damn fine aircraft. Well his is anyway.

;-)

[banana republican]

11. 23 choppers are there that many morons in DC? N/T

[Fringe3000]

12. 23 Choppers!

That's insane. You could buy an aircraft carrier with the nearly two billion dollars they will cost.