The Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion is a heavy-lift cargo helicopter
manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft for the United States Marine Corps (USMC).
The King Stallion is an evolution of the long running CH-53 series of helicopters
which have been in continuous service since 1966. It is built to thrive on the modern battlefield,
including maritime operations. This helicopter is ingenious, reliable, low-maintenance,
and survivable in the most distant and austere forward operating bases. Moreover,
it is known as the modern solution for true heavy lift and heaviest helicopter in the U.S. military.
The CH-53 King Stallion helicopter was designed and produced to the USMC exact standards which
will serve as its vital land and sea-based logistics connection. The new heavy lifter
will allow the USMC and international militaries to transfer personnel and equipment more rapidly
and effectively than ever before from ship to shore and to higher altitude terrain.
Historically, The USMC had intended to upgrade the majority of CH-53Es to keep them in service,
but the idea was shelved. Sikorsky proposed a new version, originally designated "CH-53X" and
finally made a contract for 227 helicopters as the "CH-53K” which cost about at $18.8 billion
with deliveries to be completed by 2021. When the King Stallion enters service,
it will serve as the USMC's heavy lift helicopter with the MV-22 and UH-1Y.
Sikorsky delivered the first CH-53K in december 2012. Its Preliminary tests
included calibrating the aircraft's fuel system and attaching measuring devices at various test
locations on the airframe to record temperature, aerodynamic loads, pressure, and vibrations,
with two additional static ground test articles underwent structural testing
at the firm's main manufacturing plant in Stratford, Connecticut. In addition,
Sikorsky was granted a $435 million contract by the Navy in May 2013, in order to supply four
prototype of Sikosrky CH-53K for operational evaluation and mission testing, with the first
two prototypes will test structural flight loads, while the third and fourth vehicles will validate
general performance, propulsion, and avionics. In October 2013, Sikorsky issued an $8.5 million
contract to Kratos Defense & Security Solutions for the design and development of maintenance
training systems for the CH-53K, including a full-fidelity Maintenance Training Device Suite
and a Helicopter Emulation Maintenance Trainer (HEMT), providing a realistic environment for
training and evaluating maintainers of the King Stallion various subsystems. The HEMT
supports maintenance training scenarios with a 3D virtual environment, including functional tests,
fault isolation, troubleshooting, removal and installation for 27 subsystems.
Finally, in May 2014, during the formal rollout of the King Stallion General James
F. Amos declared that the aircraft would be known as the "King Stallion” which then took
its first flight in October 2015. The first CH-53K Stallion simulator was delivered to the
USMC in May 2020 at Marine Corps Air Station New River in Jacksonville, North Carolina. It's
a Containerized Flight Training Device produced (CFTD) by Sikorsky's parent firm, Lockheed Martin.
So, how does the Sikorsky CH-53 King Stallion as the modern helicopter look like?
The CH-53 King Stallion is a compound helicopter general redesign including new engines and cockpit
layout, powered by two General Electric T408 engines, each rated at 5,600 kW
and capable of flying at 37 km/h, which faster than the CH-53E. One distinguished feature of
this helicopter is its new digital glass cockpit with fly-by-wire controls and haptic feedback,
HUMS, a new elastomeric hub system, and composite rotor blades, all of which will increase "hot and
high" performance. It was around 2007, work on a split torque gearbox with quill shafts began,
with total weight of the gearbox assembly, including the rotor hub and rotating control
system which approximately 5,280 kg, with the weight of the split torque gearbox is 2,390 kg.
The King Stallion also fitted with an enhanced external cargo handling system, increased
survivability, and improved service life. The cabin has 30 feet long, 9 feet broad, and 6.5 feet
height. It posses new shorter composite sponsons and a cabin that is 30 cm wider which is ideal
choice for transporting more cargo or troops with fewer trips. The larger cabin is able to
carry 463L pallets and High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles, offers flexible configurations
for maximum mission effectiveness, and facilitates loading/unloading of cargo without reconfiguring
and removing troop seating. Moreover, this helicopter can accomodate four crews.
In addition, the Stallion surpass the capability of its predecessor by carrying nearly 30% more
than the CH-53E's external payload of 12,200 kg over the same radius of 204 km.
The Stallion payload reaches a maximum of 15,900 kg, and its maximum gross weight is
39,900 kg, which keeps approximately the same footprint as the CH-53E.
Moreover, this helicopter has also joined several trainings. The King
Stallion helicopter successfully performed an air-to-air refueling test with the help of a
Lockheed Martin KC-130J aerial refueling tanker. It is repeatedly demonstrated its ability to grab
and "plug" the drogue during a 4.5-hour flight over the Chesapeake Bay, withstanding turbulent
air and the strain on the refueling probe at increasing closure rates. Futhermore,
Lockheed Martin handed over the first CH-53K training equipment to the US Navy in April 2020.
The CFTD is a full-mission flight simulator that will train flight crews on the complete
range of Marine Corps heavy lift missions, including external lift operations and degraded
visual environment take-offs and landings.The Stallion’s functionality, flight characteristics,
mission profiles, and unrivaled capabilities are all replicated in the CFTD.
Lastly, Sikorsky and Rheinmetall have inked a deal for roughly 4 billion euros to work
together on the German Air Force's CH-53G heavy lift helicopter replacement program in Germany in
February 2008, competing against Boeing's CH-47F Chinook, but in the second half of 2018, the
German Federal Ministry of Defense was scheduled to submit an official request for information,
with a deadline of 2020 for awarding a contract and delivery beginning in 2023 for an expected
order of roughly 40 helicopters. Furthermore, in Israel, the Air Force stated that in 2009,
it evaluated the new model after it flies. It formalized a demand for the CH-53K in August 2015,
designating the type as a "very high priority" item to allow the military to undertake operations
that only the platform can perform. The Stallion was chosen by the Israeli Ministry of Defense in
February 2021, and making contract with the United States to purchase 12 King Stallion helicopter in
December 2021, and for additional information, Sikorsky has been contracted by the US Navy
to build nine more CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopters in 2025 for the US Marine Corps
which have been announced by the US Department of Defense, where the service awarded a contract to
build the helicopters as part of production lot six with total up to $853 million.
That’s all for today, thank you for watching and i’ll see you in the next video!