U.S. President Joe Biden is just months away from taking his first ride in the new VH-92 presidential helicopter, which when he steps aboard will become the first new “Marine One” in more than 40 years.
All the necessary pieces are in place for a transition to the VH-92A from the legacy VH-3D Sea King, which entered service in 1976, according to Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Greg Masiello, program executive officer for air anti-submarine warfare, assault, and special mission programs at U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR).
Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1) is currently flying the first four Sikorsky VH-92 helicopters, and delivery of two more is “imminent,” Masiello said Aug. 3 during a briefing at the Navy League’s annual Sea-Air-Space Conference outside Washington, D.C. Those two will be the first two production-representative aircraft, rather than test articles.
The VH-92 flew its first public sortie on July 4, 2019, during President Trump’s Independence Day extravaganza on the National Mall. It was first spotted performing test landings on the White House lawn in 2018 and has been an occasional presence in the skies over D.C. since then.
“The squadron and the program are ready today,” Masiello said. “So, we have enough aircraft for the initial usage. We have enough pilots that are trained. We have the support equipment. We have all that kind of stuff.”
Based on the commercial Sikorsky S-92, the new helicopter is a VIP version tricked out with classified communication and defensive countermeasure technologies specifically designed to carry the U.S. president and other dignitaries.
The squadron has “started the transition out of the legacy aircraft,” Masiello said. “The fleet is trained and ready to go and we’re working with the White House Military Office on the timeline for introduction to service, but the squadron already has it and is operating it.”
Marine Corps Headquarters and the White House are working on the transition plan and a schedule for training more HMX-1 pilots to fly not only the VH-92, but also the legacy VH-3D and VH-60 and “how we’re going to phase out and phase in,” he said.
That training campaign and a commissioning plan for the VH-92 “will coalesce over the next few months and you will see the VH-92s in service shortly,” Masiello said.
The Marine Corps plans to buy 23 VH-92s, which each cost $217 million, according to the Government Accountability Office’s 2021 assessment of major Defense Department programs.
