VXX Program Details Emerge

Flight Journal, Aug 2005 by Tegler, Eric

AT A MARCH 21 BRIEFING BEFORE the Navy League Sea-Air-Space Exposition in Washington, D.C., details of the Presidential helicopter (VXX) program were provided by the DoD and Lockheed Martin. Speaking for the government, CoI. Frank Mazur, USMC, program manager for VXX (PMA-274), lauded the aircraft's growth capacity, and Lockheed Martin VXX program vice president Pat Dewar stressed the low-risk nature of the program that uses the AgustaWestland EH101 as its foundation.

PMA-274 support facilities began construction in spring 2005 at NAS Patuxent River, along with integration facilities at Lockheed's Owego, New York, plant. Testing will commence in the fall, and a critical design review will then be conducted. The first VXX flight is scheduled for spring 2007, with operational testing to follow in fall 2008. IOC is expected in fall 2009, and the full complement of 23 VXX machines is to be operational by 2015.

The first three test aircraft will be produced on Agusta's EH101 line at Yeovil in the UK, as will four subsequent "pilot-production" machines. The fifth and final pilot production machine will be built at the Bell Helicopter facility in Amarillo, Texas, where the remaining 18 "increment-two" aircraft will be manufactured.

In the meantime, three EH101s with the basic VXX configuration) including 2500 SHP General Electric CT7-8E engines and Smiths' cockpit displays) will be used to establish airframe/propulsion familiarity and provide logistical support. Two will be loaned by AgustaWestland, and Lockheed will purchase a third. They'll stay with the program for at least five years.

A formal request for the VXX-type designation has just been placed with the USAF.

-Eric Tegler