Apr. 14—Sikorsky and parent company Lockheed Martin contracts could reach $80 billion or more, if the manufacturer wins a Department of Defense competition to replace the Black Hawk helicopter with a new aircraft that could be adapted to a range of missions.
Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin are working with Boeing to bid against the Bell subsidiary, Textron, to become the lead contractor on the Pentagon's "Future Vertical Lift" initiative to identify the next utility aircraft for the U.S. Army, and in for other military branches and the U.S. Coast Guard. Much of that production is expected to occur at Sikorsky's headquarters plant in Stratford and an assembly line in Bridgeport for aircraft frames.
Sikorsky and Bell are awaiting an award by this summer on their proposed replacements for the Black Hawk helicopter, and within a few years on an armed scout helicopter for the Army.
"What we're looking at ... is probably north of $8 billion for the initial [orders]," Andrew Adams, a Sikorsky vice president leading its Future Vertical Lift effort, said Thursday to members of the Connecticut General Assembly's Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee.
"We're estimating, when we look at our business case, of much greater than $80 billion total for the life of this program — and then when you start looking at international opportunities that this will open up, we're thinking much more than that as well."
Last month, Gov. Ned Lamont's administration awarded incentives with the goal of helping Lockheed Martin increase the competitiveness of Sikorsky's bid for the Future Vertical Lift bids.
Lamont met Thursday with representatives of some of the more than 240 in-state suppliers for the iconic helicopter manufacturer at the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology in East Hartford.
"This is a big deal for the state of Connecticut," Lamont said during the Thursday news conference. "We've got hundreds of companies in the Sikorsky supply chain. We want to continue to expand that right here. That means they're ahead of the competition. The competition isn't just in Texas and Virginia, but it's also in China and Russia. That's how we keep America safe. That's how we keep Connecticut growing and prospering."
Under the agreement, Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin would get $50 million in incentives if it wins one of the two big contracts, and $75 million if awarded both projects.
In exchange, Sikorsky would commit to keeping Stratford as its headquarters plant with targeted Connecticut work-force levels set at a minimum of 7,250 jobs for one contract or 7,750 jobs for both. The expectation is that the company would eclipse those numbers, given it employs 8,100 people today in Connecticut working on Black Hawk and Seahawk production and helicopter lines for the Marine Corps, Air Force and White House.
Lamont said with the heated competition for future generations of combat aircraft, anything that can give Sikorsky an edge is important. But it remains unknown whether $75 million would have any impact on DOD's decision for its next big helicopter or tilt-rotor platform, given the mammoth spend Lockheed Martin expects from the Pentagon over the coming decades on new aircraft.
"We do have to be affordable," George Mitchell Jr., vice president of operations for Sikorsky, said Thursday.
Between spending by workers and taxes they pay, economic models suggest Connecticut would generate a nearly tenfold return on its $75 million investment if Sikorsky wins both contracts, according to David Lehman, commissioner of state Department of Economic and Community Development.
In East Hartford on Thursday, the CEO of HABCO Industries called Sikorsky "instrumental" to the Glastonbury-based manufacturer, which produces large numbers of tools and kits used by ground crews to maintain and repair Black Hawk helicopters.
"We know that Connecticut is not the most-inexpensive place to manufacture," HABCO CEO Brian Montanari said. "But through these programs that the governor has started and programs that we participate in, we are able to introduce the technology that allows us to reduce the cost for us to manufacture and reduce the skill level required so that we can be more competitive and keep the business here in Connecticut."
Sikorsky's Future Vertical Lift prototype is distinguished by stacked rotor sets that revolve in opposite directions for better stability and maneuverability. That allows the company to replace the standard stabilizer rotor on the rear boom with a "pusher" prop instead, oriented like that on the wing of an airplane for forward velocity.
The National Aeronautic Association awarded Sikorsky its 2010 Collier Trophy as the top innovation in aviation and aerospace.
Bell is offering a new iteration of its tilt-rotor technology that it pioneered with the V-22 Osprey used today by the U.S. Marine Corps.
Bell and Textron have expanded in Texas in the past with the assistance of incentives, including for a factory in Amarillo where Bell builds the V-22 Osprey and helicopters for the U.S. military. Textron's head of investor relations Eric Salander said Thursday he was not aware of the company approaching Texas or any other state about assistance for any future V-280 Valor production.
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