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World Aviation Defense & Security Industry News - Sikorsky
 
 
Sikorsky gets additional funding from NAVAIR for CH-53K helicopter development effort
 
Sikorsky, part of the US-based defense giant Lockheed Martin, has been awarded a $24,025,000 contract to provide additional funding for the CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopter development and demonstration effort, the US Department of Defense announced on Jan. 12, 2017, on its website.
     
Sikorsky gets additional funding from NAVAIR for CH 53K helicopter development effort 640 001The CH-53K King Stallion performing its first flight on Oct. 27, 2015
(Credit: NAVAIR)
     
"This modification includes the on-going efforts and the current work focusing on the flight testing of the CH-53K engineering development models. Work will be performed in Stratford, Connecticut (40 percent); West Palm Beach, Florida (40 percent); and Patuxent River, Maryland (20 percent), and is expected to be completed in February 2018," the US DoD explained.

The CH-53K is the United States Marine Corps’ (USMC) heavy lift replacement for the CH-53E. The most powerful helicopter in the Department of Defense, the CH-53K is a new-build helicopter that will expand the fleet’s ability to move more material, more rapidly throughout the area of responsibility using proven and mature technologies.


Designed to lift nearly 14 tons (27,000 lbs/12,247 kg) at a mission radius of 110 nautical miles (203 km), in Navy high/hot environments, the CH-53K is designed to lift triple the baseline CH-53E lift capability with an equivalent logistics shipboard footprint, lower operating costs per aircraft, and less direct maintenance man hours per flight hour. The CH-53K is currently on track to provide an initial operating capability in 2019. The USMC’s procurement objective is 200 helicopters.

The King Stallion will be able to transport two “up-armored” HMMWV or a Light Armored Vehicle variant under Navy high/hot conditions. It will feature a 12” wider cabin section, which can internally load 2 x 10,000lb AMC 463L pallets or 5 AMC 463L half-pallets or internally load an HMMWV ; next-generation joint interoperable CAAS “glass” cockpit ; Fly-By-Wire flight controls add additional survivability, safety and maintenance improvements ; and a fourth-generation high-efficiency composite rotor blades with swept anhedral tips.

 

 

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