LOCKHEED LANDS NAVY COPTER DEAL LOCAL FIRMS TO SERVE AS SUBCONTRACTORS.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

PALMDALE - Antelope and Santa Clarita workers will share in the jobs in Lockheed Martin's $6.1 billion Navy contract to build the next generation U.S. presidential helicopter fleet.

Santa Clarita-based ITT Industries, Novacap, Wesco Aircraft and Whitmore/Wirenetics, as well as Lockheed Martin's Palmdale plant, will do work on the US101, Lockheed's entry in the U.S. Navy competition to replace the helicopter fleet known by the call sign Marine One.

``We are honored that trust has been placed in Lockheed Martin and Team US101 for this vital and highly visible mission,'' Robert J. Stevens, Lockheed's president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Lockheed and its partners competed against Connecticut-based Sikorsky Aircraft, which has built the presidential fleet since 1957, for the 23- helicopter contract. The first presidential helicopter is due to be finished in 2009, the last in 2014.

Lockheed Martin plans to build an assembly facility in Amarillo, Texas, and to add hangars and a new integration center at an existing Lockheed Martin site in Owego, N.Y., from which the project will be run.

The Lockheed Martin entry is based on a European helicopter, the British-Italian EH101 multimission helicopter designed by AugustaWestland. Components including the transmission and rotor blades will be built overseas.

But Lockheed officials have said about 90 percent of the helicopter's lifetime maintenance costs would flow to U.S. suppliers.

For the winner, the contract means millions of dollars in federal research funds, and a potential edge when the Pentagon looks to replace hundreds of search and rescue helicopters in coming years.

It also gives Lockheed the bragging rights to one of the most photographed helicopters in the world: the president's green-and-white aircraft, often shown as it lifts off from the South Lawn of the White House.

The president ``needs a more survivable helicopter while the nation engages in the global war on terrorism,'' said John Young, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, in making the announcement Friday.

ITT Industries of Valencia is providing pressure and temperature switches and indicators for the helicopter, while Novacap is offering radio components.

Wesco Aircraft is supplying rivets, pins and other fasteners for the aircraft, and Whitmore/Wirenetics has furnished cables and wiring for electronics systems.

Barbara Boyd, contracts manager at ITT, declined to comment Friday, citing the contract with Maryland-based Lockheed that forbids the Valencia firm from discussing the award. Officials with Novacap, Wesco and Whitmore/Wirenetics could not be reached for comment.

Sikorsky and its backers argued that the VH-92 Super Hawk's all- American parts provided greater security than a helicopter built in part in other countries.

But the Navy went with the longer, wider, more powerful aircraft, with its three engines, built by General Electric Co. in Lynn, Mass. Sikorsky's Super Hawk has two engines.

Plans to replace the Marine Corps' aging presidential squadron took on greater importance after the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Last year the White House pressed for an expedited bidding process because of security concerns, but Navy officials later delayed a decision, saying they needed about a year to get more information.

The companies submitted bids last February, and have waged a massive public relations campaign, complete with billboards, demonstration flights, ads and radio commercials.

Friday's loss is the second major defeat for Sikorsky is a little less than a year. Last February the Pentagon canceled the $39 billion Comanche helicopter program, which was a joint venture with Boeing Helicopters.

The company still builds one of the military's workhorse helicopters, the Black Hawk, which is being used broadly in the Iraq war. The Pentagon is expected to order hundreds more in coming years to replace current models.