CHICAGO– President Joe Biden took his first flight on Monday aboard the modern VH-92A helicopter that serves as Marine One, after years of delays in the program to replace the aging aircraft that carry the president and vice president.
Biden boarded the Sikorsky-built helicopter after landing on Air Force One in Chicago, where he will speak at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night. His first presidential flight took him from O’Hare International Airport to the parking lot of Chicago’s Soldier Field, which is often used as a landing strip for presidential travel.
This was a key milestone in a two-decade-long process to replace Vietnam-era helicopters, some of which have been used to transport presidents since the 1970s.
The Bush administration had initially attempted to purchase new helicopters to improve communications and operational capabilities after September 11, 2001. However, President Barack Obama dropped this initiative after costs were drastically exceeded.
The new program was launched by the Obama administration and the helicopter, dubbed the Patriot by its manufacturer, was first unveiled to the public during the Trump administration. But problems with the secure onboard communications system – needed to allow the president to hold classified conversations and make military decisions in an emergency – as well as a tendency to scorch the South Lawn of the White House, led to years of delays to the program.
The Marine Corps reported last year that the communications problems had been resolved, but it was not clear whether changes to the exhaust system had eliminated the threat to the White House lawn.
Marine Helicopter Squadron One, which operates the helicopters, has used the VH-92 helicopters in regular service for several years, including for test flights around Washington, DC and to transport White House staff and security personnel. The last VH-92A helicopter was delivered earlier this month, giving the USMC 21 operational aircraft and two test aircraft. The total cost of the program for the 23 aircraft was approximately $5 billion.
The new helicopters are based on the commercially available Sikorsky S-92 and are larger and have a longer range than the older VH-3D and VH-60N models.
___ Associated Press writers Tara Copp and Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.
