Finmeccanica Looks for Partner in White House Helicopter Bid
March 05, 2010, 7:01 AM ESTBy Sabine Pirone
March 5 (Bloomberg) -- Finmeccanica SpA, Italy’s biggest defense contractor, said it is looking for a partner as the U.S. Defense Department restarts the process of replacing the ageing fleet of presidential helicopters.
The Pentagon called for companies to indicate their interest in bidding to replace the Marine One helicopters, Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, Finmeccanica’s chief executive officer, said at a press conference in London today.
Lockheed Martin Corp. won a contract valued at more than $6 billion in 2005 to build 28 helicopters to replace the fleet of 19 helicopters, some of which are 40 years old. The Obama administration canceled it last year because of cost overruns. Finmeccanica unit AugustaWestland was a subcontractor for the helicopter.
“It depends on the Lockheed Martin mood,” Guarguaglini said. “I am not sure they are still interested” in jointly pursuing the contract. He said Finmeccanica wants to choose a partner within 18 to 24 months.
The re-tender is still at early stages, as the Pentagon has not issued a “request for proposals,” which would include exact specifications for the helicopter.
--Editors: Jim Silver, Andrew Noel.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sabine Pirone in London at spirone@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Benedikt Kammel at bkammel@bloomberg.net.
