My very first reaction was that was just one more sign that the Republicans were going to lose the White House ("no shiny new helos for the next guy!"). The amusement at how funny I thought I was quickly went away once I saw that each of these new helicopters costs more than the last Boeing VC-25.
A year after Sept. 11, 2001, the White House set out to build a fleet of state-of-the-art Marine One helicopters for the al-Qaeda age that would be safer, faster and more reliable than the iconic white-topped aircraft that have landed on the South Lawn for decades.
But the al-Qaeda age has met the military acquisition process. Six years later, the cost of the new helicopters has nearly doubled, production has fallen behind schedule, and the bulk of the program has been put on hold while the government tries to figure out how to salvage it.
[From Costs soar for Marine One fleet - Washington Post- msnbc.com]
Yes, a helicopter that costs more than the most exclusive VIP airplane in the world. This is actually a good thing, because it shows, with extremes, how much dangerous helicopters are in comparison to fixed wing aircraft. This is of course a blanket assumption, but think about it: Air Force One is already ultra-secure, as secure as we can make it to protect the current President plus an entourage of hundreds, yet it costs more money to build just one helicopter to carry him and maybe a dozen people total with a reasonable degree of security.
If you would like a very quick explanation on why helicopters are much more dangerous than fixed wing aircraft, take a look at Phil Greenspun's take on the subject.
Photo Credit: Photo by culhanen, used under the terms of a Creative Commons license.
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