A granite helipad is being constructed at the White House to accommodate the newer Marine One helicopters, President Donald Trump confirmed.
The White House’s South Lawn will sport the roughly $5 million helipad, paid for by Sikorsky Aircraft, an aircraft manufacturer owned by Lockheed Martin.
Sikorsky completed the delivery of 23 of the next-generation VH-92A Patriot Marine One aircraft for presidential use to the Marine Corps in August 2024. The exhaust vents on the VH-92As are located toward the back of the helicopter with the heat pointing downward, causing it to scorch the White House lawn upon landing.
“Sikorsky is paying for it. You know why? Because they didn’t tell us how powerful these helicopters were and they felt a little bit guilty,” Trump told reporters Monday.
The helipad will feature the seal of the White House and be made of granite, the president said.
Previously, Marines would place a piece of metal onto the grass for the helicopters to land on top of, but sometimes the pilots “miss the little mark,” Trump said, causing the grass to get singed and “ripped out.”
Due to the lawn damage caused by the Marine One helicopters, the administration considered only using the former Marine One when landing at the White House and flying the newer ones for all other purposes until Trump suggested to Air Force generals the possibility of building a helipad.
“It’s funny. I said, ‘Has anyone ever thought of a helipad?’ I had like six generals in front of me. And they go like, ‘Wow, that’s a good idea,’” Trump said.
By building the helipad, Trump said that it can be another step toward retiring the older Marine One aircrafts, such as the VH-3D Sea King and the VH-60N White Hawk, both built by Sikorsky, that are still in use today.
The aircrafts were introduced to presidential service in the late 1970s and late 1980s, respectively. Plans to retire the aging fleets began in the early 2000s but were stalled and canceled. Then, in 2014, the Department of the Navy selected Sikorsky to develop the VH-92As to replace the older aircrafts.
Construction of the helipad began last week, according to Washington Post reporting. The helipad’s completion is slated for Sept. 17, a week prior to when Chinese President Xi Jinping’s White House visit is scheduled.
