Foreign, U.S. companies vie to build US presidential copters

Published: Jul 12, 2004
Source: www.thestate.com



Perhaps no helicopter symbolizes presidential power more than Marine One as it lifts off the White House lawn. Now, the competition to build the next fleet of presidential helicopters has become a bare-knuckles brawl that pits a flag-waving domestic maker against an international team hoping to be rewarded for supporting the United States in Iraq.

One bidding team is led by the Lockheed Martin Corp., the nation’s largest military contractor, which has lined up European partners and a lobbying juggernaut that includes Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain and his Italian counterpart, Silvio Berlusconi — two of Washington’s staunchest allies in Iraq.continue..