{"id":3216581,"date":"2026-06-30T17:10:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T15:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/vh-71-kestrel-cancelled-presidential-helicopter\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T17:10:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T15:10:14","slug":"vh-71-kestrel-cancelled-presidential-helicopter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/fr\/vh-71-kestrel-cancelled-presidential-helicopter\/","title":{"rendered":"The $13 Billion Helicopter That Never Flew a President"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style><p>There is expensive, and then there is &ldquo;costs more than Air Force One.&rdquo; The VH-71 Kestrel, the helicopter that was supposed to become the next Marine One, somehow managed the second one. By the time anyone added it all up, the bill for 28 of them had passed $13 billion &mdash; north of $400 million per helicopter &mdash; and not a single one had ever carried a president in service.<\/p><p>It started with a perfectly good aircraft, the AgustaWestland AW101, fitted out by a Lockheed Martin team. Then the requirements piled on, the budget detonated, and a brand-new president pulled the plug.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border:1px solid #d6e0ff;border-radius:8px;padding:16px 20px;margin:22px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:700;color:#1a1a1a\">Quick Facts<\/p><table style=\"border-collapse:collapse;font-size:15px\"><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>What<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#222\">Cancelled U.S. presidential helicopter, intended as the new &ldquo;Marine One&rdquo;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Based on<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#222\">The AgustaWestland AW101, led by Lockheed Martin<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Planned fleet<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#222\">28 helicopters<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Cost<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#222\">Ballooned from ~$6.5 billion to over $13 billion (more than $400 million each)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Cancelled<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#222\">1 June 2009<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 14px 6px 0;color:#555;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\"><strong>Afterlife<\/strong><\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#222\">Airframes sold to Canada for CH-149 Cormorant spare parts<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/div>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">How a helicopter outpriced a jumbo jet<\/h2><p>The programme launched at roughly $6.5 billion for 28 aircraft. By March 2008 that had climbed to about $11 billion, and by 2009 it had blown past $13 billion. A later Government Accountability Office report laid out exactly how: the Pentagon tried to develop and build the helicopter at the same time, so finished aircraft had to be torn apart and retrofitted; a full review of the requirements did not happen until months after production began, at which point it emerged the design could not actually meet the mission; and the White House and Defense Department kept adding combat and communications capabilities that drove the complexity ever higher.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img data-opt-id=900679451  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:kY20.c262\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/vh-71-kestrel-testing.jpg\" alt=\"A VH-71 Kestrel undergoing testing\" style=\"display:block;width:100%;height:auto;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A VH-71 Kestrel in testing near Lockheed Martin&rsquo;s facility in Owego, New York. A handful of test aircraft flew, but none entered service. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Cancelled before it carried a president<\/h2><p>In February 2009, with the economy in free fall, President Obama publicly questioned the wisdom of a $400-million helicopter and asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to put it on hold or kill it. Gates terminated the contract on 1 June 2009. By then, billions had already been spent. Several test aircraft had flown &mdash; one even landed at the White House during trials &mdash; but the VH-71 never entered service as Marine One.<\/p><h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Sold to Canada for parts<\/h2><p>The finished airframes did not go to a museum or a scrapyard. They went to Canada, which bought them as a spare-parts donor for its fleet of CH-149 Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopters &mdash; also built on the AW101. The would-be presidential helicopter ended its life as an organ donor for someone else&rsquo;s rescue fleet. The hunt for a new Marine One dragged on for more than another decade, until the Sikorsky VH-92 finally took over the job.<\/p><p>The VH-71 is a near-perfect monument to how defence programmes really die: not because the aircraft is bad, but because a good one gets buried under shifting requirements, simultaneous design-and-build, and a price tag nobody can say out loud with a straight face.<\/p><p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;font-style:italic;margin-top:18px\">Sources: Wikipedia; GlobalSecurity.org; Congressional Research Service.<\/p><!-- mf-faq -->\n\n<div class=\"mf-faq-block\"><style>.mf-faq-block{margin:34px 0}.mf-faq-item:not([open]) .mf-faq-answer{display:none !important}.mf-faq-block h2.mf-faq-h{padding-top:22px;margin-bottom:14px}.mf-faq-item{border:1px solid #e2e8f5;border-radius:8px;margin:0 0 10px;background:#fff}.mf-faq-item summary{list-style:none;cursor:pointer;padding:15px 50px 15px 18px;font-weight:600;color:#1a1a1a;position:relative;line-height:1.45}.mf-faq-item summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mf-faq-item summary::after{content:\"+\";position:absolute;right:18px;top:50%;transform:translateY(-50%);font-size:1.5em;color:#5C91FF}.mf-faq-item[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mf-faq-answer{padding:14px 18px;color:#333;line-height:1.6}.mf-faq-answer p{margin:0}<\/style><h2 class=\"mf-faq-h\">Related Questions<\/h2><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What was the VH-71 Kestrel?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The VH-71 Kestrel was a helicopter, based on the AgustaWestland AW101 and led by Lockheed Martin, intended to replace the U.S. presidential transport fleet known as Marine One. The programme was cancelled in 2009 before the helicopter entered service.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>How much did the VH-71 cost?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The programme cost ballooned from an initial estimate of about $6.5 billion for 28 helicopters to more than $13 billion \\u2014 over $400 million per aircraft, which is more expensive than the presidential aircraft Air Force One.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>Why was the VH-71 cancelled?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Costs roughly doubled due to developing and producing the aircraft at the same time, a late review of requirements that found the design inadequate, and ever-growing demands for combat and communications capabilities. President Obama and Defense Secretary Gates terminated it in 2009.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>Did the VH-71 ever carry a president?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>No. A few test aircraft flew, and one landed at the White House during trials, but the VH-71 never entered service and never carried a president operationally.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What happened to the VH-71 helicopters?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>After cancellation, the completed airframes were sold to Canada, where they were used as a source of spare parts for the Canadian CH-149 Cormorant search-and-rescue fleet, which is also based on the AW101.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What replaced the VH-71 as Marine One?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>After the VH-71 was cancelled, the search for a new presidential helicopter continued for years. The Sikorsky VH-92 was eventually selected and entered service to replace the older Marine One fleet.<\/p><\/div><\/details><\/div>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the VH-71 Kestrel?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The VH-71 Kestrel was a helicopter, based on the AgustaWestland AW101 and led by Lockheed Martin, intended to replace the U.S. presidential transport fleet known as Marine One. 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President Obama and Defense Secretary Gates terminated it in 2009.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Did the VH-71 ever carry a president?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"No. A few test aircraft flew, and one landed at the White House during trials, but the VH-71 never entered service and never carried a president operationally.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What happened to the VH-71 helicopters?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"After cancellation, the completed airframes were sold to Canada, where they were used as a source of spare parts for the Canadian CH-149 Cormorant search-and-rescue fleet, which is also based on the AW101.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What replaced the VH-71 as Marine One?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"After the VH-71 was cancelled, the search for a new presidential helicopter continued for years. The Sikorsky VH-92 was eventually selected and entered service to replace the older Marine One fleet.\"}}]}<\/script><!-- \/mf-faq -->\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/rah-66-comanche-the-7-billion-stealth-helicopter-that-never-got-to-fight\/\">RAH-66 Comanche: The $7 Billion Stealth Helicopter That Never Got to Fight<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There is expensive, and then there is &ldquo;costs more than Air Force One.&rdquo; The VH-71 Kestrel, the helicopter that was supposed to become the next Marine One, somehow managed the second one. By the time anyone added it all up, the bill for 28 of them had passed $13 billion &mdash; north of $400 million [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":3216503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[665,666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3216581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aviation-world","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The $13 Billion Helicopter That Never Flew a President | MiGFlug.com Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There is expensive, and then there is &ldquo;costs more than Air Force One.&rdquo; The VH-71 Kestrel, the helicopter that was supposed to become the next\" \/>\n<meta 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