Anyone find it odd that the plans to Obama's current helicopter have been leaked...

[originalpckelly]

right about the time the project to produce a new one was in danger of being terminated because of massive cost overruns?

It doesn't look at all suspicious. No, it really doesn't. I wonder if the contractor that leaked the plans would stand to gain financially from the new helicopter.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29447088/

"Employees of Tiversa, a Cranberry Township, Pa.-based security company that specializes in peer-to-peer technology, reportedly found engineering and communications information about Marine One at an IP address in Tehran, Iran.

Bob Boback, CEO of Tiversa, told WPXI-TV: 'We found a file containing entire blueprints and avionics package for Marine One, which is the president's helicopter.'

The company was able to trace the file back to its original source.

'What appears to be a defense contractor in Bethesda, Md., had a file-sharing program on one of their systems that also contained highly sensitive blueprints for Marine One,' Boback said."

[liberalmuse]

1. Yes, it's suspicious.

What the hell? I can't even have that kind of crap on my computer at work, but our defense contractors who deal with extremely sensitive information can? Infuckingcredible.

[originalpckelly]

2. And who has the plans to the old Marine One on their computer?

A contractor doing business with the government probably to supply parts. I wonder if they'll make more money off the new one?

That's why they should have said what company did it.

[malaise]

3. Buy my new helicopters or that old one will go down

and we'll blame Iran.
Time to clean up the Pentagon.

These fuckers are crazy.

[tabasco]

4. I must have missed it when republicans questioned upgrades to Reagan's or

either of the Bush's helicopters.

For some odd reason, they have suddenly become concerned about the budget.

:shrug:

[originalpckelly]

6. The Sea Kings are an old design, in need of update...

they already seem to be using Sea Hawks for some duties, but after checking the specs of both helicopters, it appears the circa 1959 Sea King can beat out the Sea Hawk by almost 200 nautical miles of range:

Sea King Specs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-3_Sea_King#Specifications_.28SH-3.29

Sea Hawk Specs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SH-60_Sea_Hawk#Specifications_.28SH-60B.29

So I guess that's why they wanted a new one.

[theoldman]

5. The plans for the new helicopter should be scrapped.

It was a bad idea to begin with so why keep it for the next 20 to 30 years. I could write a page on all of the problems with the contract. I worked in the industry for many years. The Marine one contract is worse than the V22 contract.

[originalpckelly]

7. The Sea King is an old design (1959)

The Seahawk that the Navy used to replace the Sea King in other operations has a 150 nautical mile difference in range, it simply cannot travel as far as the Sea King.

For shipboard duties the lesser range probably doesn't matter as much, but when using it for actual transportation, range does matter.

That doesn't mean it isn't a boondoggle, but you can see why they'd want a new one.