USMC New CH-53
Doubles lift and range
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The U.S. Marine Corps' plan to buy a new derivative of its heavy-lift CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter would give the service double lift capability and range and cut operating costs in half, according to a helicopter industry expert.
"The Marine Corps is going to make major changes to the aircraft that would make a new build more appropriate ... including nearly doubling the lift capability and range, and reducing operations and support costs by 40-50 percent," Rhett Flater, executive director of the American Helicopter Society International, told The DAILY.
"Also, with lean manufacturing technology, Sikorsky will be able to produce a new build that won't be much more expensive than remanufacturing the old frame," which is about 30 years old, he said.
The Marine Corps hopes to receive Pentagon approval by December to develop the CH-53X, a "new-build derivative" of the aging CH-53E Super Stallion, said Col. Paul Croisetiere (USMC), who manages H-53 programs for the Marines and Navy (DAILY, June 10).
"The plan is to purchase 154 new Sikorsky CH-53 helicopters, as opposed to refurbishing the aircraft to extend its service life," Flater said.
The new CH-53 will be able to carry a 27,000-pound payload, with a 110-nautical mile radius of action, compared with the current aircraft's 15,000-pound payload with a 50-nautical mile range. It also will have a 10,000-hour fatigue life as opposed to a 6,000-hour fatigue life, Flater said.
The new aircraft will be equipped with three 6,000-shaft horsepower engines, compared with the current three 4,380-shaft horsepower engines. The current General Electric T-64 engine will be replaced with a new engine, for which a competition will be announced this summer, he said. General Electric, Honeywell, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce are seen as potential competitors to supply the engines (DAILY, June 10).
The new CH-53 will have all-composite rotor blades with anhedral tips to reduce drag and elastomeric bearings, which could reduce the number of parts in the rotor heads by 50 percent, Flater said.
The aircraft will have a state-of-the-art digital glass cockpit and fly-by-wire controls with electrically activated actuators, which reduce weight and improve the control authority for the pilot. In addition, the transmission will be upgraded to a more efficient split-torque transmission, he said.
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) is putting a strain on tactical and heavy-lift helicopters, Lt. Gen. Robert Magnus said last month. The Marine Corps will decide this summer whether to extend the life of current CH-53 helicopters as part of the fiscal 2006-11 Future Years Defense Plan, he said.
A Marine Corps analysis of alternatives conducted last summer determined that a new-build aircraft would be the most cost effective for the service, but the urgency of the war in Iraq could prompt the CH-53 life extension, a Marine Corps spokesman told The DAILY (DAILY, June 9).
The Marine Corps is keeping the CH-53 frame because the aircraft has proven itself in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it is shipboard compatible, Flater said.
"The Marine Corps is going to make major changes to the aircraft that would make a new build more appropriate ... including nearly doubling the lift capability and range, and reducing operations and support costs by 40-50 percent," Rhett Flater, executive director of the American Helicopter Society International, told The DAILY.
"Also, with lean manufacturing technology, Sikorsky will be able to produce a new build that won't be much more expensive than remanufacturing the old frame," which is about 30 years old, he said.
The Marine Corps hopes to receive Pentagon approval by December to develop the CH-53X, a "new-build derivative" of the aging CH-53E Super Stallion, said Col. Paul Croisetiere (USMC), who manages H-53 programs for the Marines and Navy (DAILY, June 10).
"The plan is to purchase 154 new Sikorsky CH-53 helicopters, as opposed to refurbishing the aircraft to extend its service life," Flater said.
The new CH-53 will be able to carry a 27,000-pound payload, with a 110-nautical mile radius of action, compared with the current aircraft's 15,000-pound payload with a 50-nautical mile range. It also will have a 10,000-hour fatigue life as opposed to a 6,000-hour fatigue life, Flater said.
The new aircraft will be equipped with three 6,000-shaft horsepower engines, compared with the current three 4,380-shaft horsepower engines. The current General Electric T-64 engine will be replaced with a new engine, for which a competition will be announced this summer, he said. General Electric, Honeywell, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce are seen as potential competitors to supply the engines (DAILY, June 10).
The new CH-53 will have all-composite rotor blades with anhedral tips to reduce drag and elastomeric bearings, which could reduce the number of parts in the rotor heads by 50 percent, Flater said.
The aircraft will have a state-of-the-art digital glass cockpit and fly-by-wire controls with electrically activated actuators, which reduce weight and improve the control authority for the pilot. In addition, the transmission will be upgraded to a more efficient split-torque transmission, he said.
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) is putting a strain on tactical and heavy-lift helicopters, Lt. Gen. Robert Magnus said last month. The Marine Corps will decide this summer whether to extend the life of current CH-53 helicopters as part of the fiscal 2006-11 Future Years Defense Plan, he said.
A Marine Corps analysis of alternatives conducted last summer determined that a new-build aircraft would be the most cost effective for the service, but the urgency of the war in Iraq could prompt the CH-53 life extension, a Marine Corps spokesman told The DAILY (DAILY, June 9).
The Marine Corps is keeping the CH-53 frame because the aircraft has proven itself in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it is shipboard compatible, Flater said.