Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/presidential-helicopter-expenses-highlight-federal-defense-procurement-flaws Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript President Obama has indicated that he may not seek upgrades to the presidential fleet of helicopters due to skyrocketing costs, an expense for which former President Bush had budgeted. An analyst assesses the rapidly rising prices charged by defense contractors. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. RAY SUAREZ: It's become a familiar and famous image over 50 years: the president of the United States getting on and off the presidential helicopter, now known as Marine One, on the South Lawn of the White House.And for 34 years, since President Gerald Ford was in office, it's been the same fleet of choppers, built by the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in Connecticut.The Defense Department hired Lockheed Martin to build the next generation of presidential helicopters in 2005. The 28-chopper fleet was to be outfitted with new communications equipment, anti-missile defenses, and hardened hulls.But four years into the project, the budget has doubled from $6.1 billion to $11.2 billion.Yesterday, President Obama's one-time rival, Sen. John McCain, spoke at a White House summit on fiscal responsibility and expressed his outrage at the soaring price tag. SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, R-Ariz.: We all know how large the defense budget is. We all know that the cost overruns — your helicopter is now going to cost as much as Air Force One. I don't think that there's any more graphic demonstration of how good ideas have cost taxpayers an enormous amount of money.So we will — and I know that you've already made plans to try to curb some of the excesses in procurement. We really have to do that. We're going to have to pay for Afghanistan, as you well know, and we're not done in Iraq.But most importantly, we have to make some tough decisions or you, Mr. President, are going to have to make some tough decisions about not only what we procure, but how we procure it. U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Well, John, this is going to be one of our highest priorities.By the way, I've already talked to Gates about a thorough review of the helicopter situation. The helicopter I have now seems perfectly adequate to me.Of course, I've never had a helicopter before.You know, maybe I've been deprived and I didn't know it. But I think it is a — it is an example of the procurement process gone amok, and we're going to have to fix it. RAY SUAREZ: Neither Marine Corps leaders nor Defense Secretary Gates has responded to the McCain-Obama exchange.