Cheney Slashes Army Copter Purchases

Defense Secretary Dick Cheney said Friday that he had ordered the Army to cut its planned purchases of a new generation of attack and reconnaissance helicopters by nearly half for a long-term savings of about $7.8 billion.

The Army will buy 1,292 of the helicopters, which are still on the drawing board, instead of the previously planned 2,096, Cheney said. The yearly rate of production will be 120 instead of 216.

The change will cut the program’s total cost to $34.2 billion from the originally projected $42 billion, the Army said.

But officials said that it will increase the cost of each helicopter produced because research and development costs will be spread among fewer aircraft.

The Army said each helicopter is expected to cost $8.9 million, up from the previous estimate of $7.5 million.

Cheney said the demonstration phase of the program will be extended two years to allow for full testing of a prototype.

Two corporate teams are competing for the production contract. One comprises McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Co. of Mesa, Ariz., and Bell Helicopter Textron of Ft. Worth, Tex.

The other corporate team is made up of Boeing Helicopters of Philadelphia and Sikorsky Aircraft Co. of Stratford, Conn.

In Mesa, McDonnell Douglas said it views Cheney’s announcement that a prototype will be built as a positive step in the development of the helicopter.

“It is an endorsement that the LH (light helicopter) concept is the best solution for the Army’s next generation of reconnaissance, armed helicopters,” said Ken Jensen, a company spokesman.

“We have suggested that the prototype would be the next logical step,” the spokesman said.

A single contracting team for full-scale development of the helicopter is to be chosen next February.

“I am convinced that the Light Helicopter is essential to our long-term strategy of meeting worldwide requirements with a smaller, lighter Army force structure,” Cheney said in a statement after a review of the program by the department.

The new helicopter is designed to perform reconnaissance at night, in adverse weather conditions, at high altitudes and in hot climates, the Pentagon said.

The Bush Administration’s budget request for the 1991 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, includes $465 million for research, development, testing and evaluation of the new-generation helicopter, but Congress is expected to approve a smaller total.