The Sikorsky/Lockheed Martin VH-92 Patriot is an American helicopter operated in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

Marine One Marine One is the call sign of any United States Marine Corps aircraft carrying the president of the United States. As of 2024, it is most frequently applied to a presidential transport helicopter operated by Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX ...

U.S. presidential transport fleet. It is a militarized variant of the

Sikorsky S-92 The Sikorsky S-92 is an American twin-engine medium-lift helicopter built by Sikorsky Aircraft for the civil and military helicopter markets. The S-92 was developed from the Sikorsky S-70 helicopter and has similar parts such as flight control ...

and is larger than the former Marine One helicopters.

Design and development

Sikorsky entered the VH-92 variant of the S-92 into the

VXX VXX, officially the Presidential Helicopter Replacement Program, is a procurement program to replace aging Marine One helicopters that transport the President of the United States. The current Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King#US military, VH-3 helico ...

competition for U.S. presidential helicopter

(replacing the Sikorsky VH-3D Sea King and VH-60N White Hawk), but lost to the

Lockheed Martin VH-71 Kestrel The Lockheed Martin VH-71 Kestrel was a variant of the AgustaWestland AW101 (formerly the EH101) that was being manufactured to replace the United States Marine Corps' Marine One U.S. Presidential transport fleet. Originally marketed for var ...

. However, the competition was restarted in 2010 due to ballooning VH-71 development costs, allowing Sikorsky to resubmit the VH-92 in April 2010. By mid-2013, all other aircraft manufacturers had dropped out of the contest, leaving only Sikorsky. On 7 May 2014, it was announced that the VH-92 had won the restarted VXX competition. In May 2014, Sikorsky was awarded a

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

1.24 billion contract to produce the VH-92, which is outfitted with an executive interior and military mission support systems, including triple electrical power and redundant flight controls. Six of the variant, designated VH-92A, were ordered by the U.S. Navy for delivery in 2017. Production of a further 17 aircraft was planned to begin in 2020. The total FY2015 program cost is $4.718 billion for 23 helicopters, at an average cost of $205M per aircraft. In July 2016, the design passed its Critical Design Review, clearing it for production.

Operational history

On 28 July 2017, the first VH-92A performed its maiden flight at Sikorsky's

Stratford, Connecticut Stratford is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is situated on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Housatonic River. The town is part of the Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, Connecticut, Greater Bri ...

facility. On 22 September 2018, a VH-92 was flown to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

for take-off and landing tests at spots used for Marine One. In late November 2021, Pentagon officials noted the aircraft was "failing to meet the reliability, availability or maintainability threshold requirements" and that it had damaged landing zones with its exhaust and fuel leaks during test flights. The VH-92 had not yet entered service carrying VIPs. On 28 December 2021, the VH-92 achieved its Initial Operational Capability (IOC) milestone. However, the aircraft, named "Patriot" in 2022, was still unable to transport the president or vice president due to issues with its encrypted communications systems and its tendency to scorch the South Lawn of the White House. A VH-92 made its inaugural flight as Marine One on the afternoon of 19 August 2024, when President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

rode from Chicago's

O'Hare International Airport Chicago O'Hare International Airport is the primary international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, United States, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Chicago Loop, Loop business district. The airport is ope ...

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears from the National ...

en route to the

2024 Democratic National Convention The 2024 Democratic National Convention was a United States presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating convention in which delegates of the Democratic Party (United States), United States Democratic Party voted on their party ...

Variants

* VH-92A Patriot: 23 (21 operational, 2 test/training)

Operators

; *

(23)

Specifications (S-92)

Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone 1-view line drawing

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Leoni, Ray D. (2007). ''Black Hawk: The Story of a World Class Helicopter''. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. .

External links

Sikorsky S-92 page on Lockheedmartin.com

US Navy VH-92A Fact File page

US Navy VH-92A Navair page
{{PresidentialCallsigns 2010s United States helicopters VH-092 VH-092 Twin-turbine helicopters 2010s United States military transport aircraft United States military helicopters Aircraft first flown in 2017 Single-rotor helicopters Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear