March 5 (Bloomberg) -- Lockheed Martin Corp.’s presidential helicopter program is now projected to cost $13 billion, more than twice its original estimate, according to the Pentagon.

This latest estimate, prepared for congressional defense committees, is more bad news for a program President Barack Obama last month called “an example of the procurement process gone amok.”

The Pentagon, in a 15-page update on the program, blames the increased cost on delays and “unanticipated” work.

The revised estimate -- 113 percent above the original projection of $6.1 billion -- would bring the average cost per helicopter to at least $470 million, including the expense for research and development. That’s more than Lockheed’s F-22, the most expensive fighter aircraft in U.S. history.

The president has vowed to curb billions of dollars in wasteful spending at the Defense Department, and the Pentagon is reviewing weapons programs for possible cancellation or delay as it puts together a fiscal 2010 budget.

Obama, at a White House summit on fiscal responsibility Feb. 23, suggested he doesn’t need a new helicopter.

The current version “Marine One,” as the presidential helicopter is known, is “perfectly adequate” and doesn’t need to be replaced, he said.

Richard Aboulafia, an aircraft analyst with the Teal Group in Fairfax, Virginia, said the helicopter “was designed in a different budget environment when costs didn’t matter.”

“It’s probably possible to design something” based on the Lockheed design “that does three-quarters of the job at one- quarter the price,” he said.

Won Contract in 2005

Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed won the contract to build a new fleet in January 2005. The program called for building as many as 28 helicopters with a goal of having the first five ready “no earlier than September 2010,” according to the document sent to lawmakers last month. This goal has now been pushed back 18 months.

The Navy planned to field an upgraded version, which would have more sophisticated communications as well as the most advanced defenses against missiles and other threats -- by December 2017. That date has slipped two years to December 2019.

The current presidential fleet has some helicopters from United Technologies Corp.’s Sikorsky unit that are 40 years old.

The new program has been the source of disagreements among the company, the Navy and the White House Military Office over performance requirements.

The Lockheed aircraft is based on the design of the EH101 helicopter produced by Agustawestland, a unit of Finmeccanica SpA of Italy. Textron Inc.’s Bell Helicopter unit is a major subcontractor.

Navy spokesman Lieutenant Clay Doss said it would be “inappropriate to comment” during the current review. Lockheed Martin spokesman Troy Scully had no immediate comment on the cost estimate.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tony Capaccio at the Pentagon at at acapaccio@bloomnberg.net

Last Updated: March 5, 2009 15:07 EST