Finmeccanica Comfortable with VH-71 Program End

Finmeccanica put out a press release in response to Secretary of Defense Gate's proposal to cancel the new Presidential transport helicopter. The VH-71 is an Augusta Westland platform that is being modified by Lockheed Martin. In the press release here at Avionews the company states that since the first increment is fully funded and eight of the nine aircraft contracted for have been delivered. It was increment two that would see the fully capable version of the aircraft that will be canceled. Due to a variety of reasons this part of the program had greatly increased in cost and schedule. One of them was the rapid increase in the number of requirements that the aircraft had to meet. Finmeccanica feels that any termination costs related to the end of the program will offset the losses by not continuing the program. The company had not yet booked any of that money as the second increment was still winding its way towards full contract award. One of the ways that Gates has worked his proposals is that most of the canceled programs are new and he has offset some of them by continuing older programs such as the Navy's DDG-51 shipbuilding plans. In the case of the F-22 he is trying to accelerate the JSF to make up for the end of that aircraft's production. As the budget works its way to and through Congress we will see more input like this from the companies involved.