![]() The CH-53E CNS/ATM upgrade flown last November mixes five portrait-format Multi-Function Displays (MFD) and dual center-console Control Display Units (CDU) with some electromechanical gauges. “We’re kind of a CAAS derivative based on the ’53E and ’53G.” “We’re technically not a CAAS cockpit,” said Dan Toy, Rockwell Collins principal marketing manager for rotary wing aircraft. AMS controls and displays and mission computing resources themselves evolved from the CAAS in Chinooks and other helicopters. Sikorsky chose principal subcontractor Rockwell Collins in 2006 to give the CH-53K an Avionics Management System like that in the successful S-92. Production deliveries for the Marines stretch from 2017 to 2028, and the new heavy lifter has already drawn interest from potential international customers. The development program flies four Engineering Development Models. Qualified hardware will be delivered early next year for test aircraft. “The ’53 has the luxury of following these other programs.”įlight-worthy hardware and production-representative software are now in CH-53K Systems Integration Labs (SIL) located at Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford, Conn., and Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “I really think the key here is the extent of the up-front work we’ve done with the fleet customers, combined with the lessons learned from the S-92, the Canadian program, the Black Hawk M and MU, and a real system engineering focus to really get this right, right off the bat,” Torok said. More measured development makes the program more efficient in qualification testing, according to Michael Torok, Sikorsky vice president and chief engineer for Marine Corps programs. NAVAIR ultimately accepted a ’53E Service Life Extension Program and slipped Kilo Initial Operational Capability from 2015 to 2018 to reduce development risk. For all its brute power, the Kilo with fly-by-wire flight controls has to be easier to fly than the ’53E and cost half as much to operate and support.ĭevelopment of the CH-53K was initially paced by the fatigue lives of the CH-53E fleet. The ’53K is also expected to carry four times the payload over the same distance at high density altitudes like those in Afghanistan. To implement Marine Sea Basing and Ship-to-Objective Maneuver concepts, the Kilo version has to sling-load 27,000 pounds over 110 nautical miles at sea level more than twice the load of today’s CH-53E yet fit the same amphibious assault ships. The three-engined Heavy Lift Replacement helicopter passed a Critical Design Review last summer and should fly for the first time in late 2013. ![]() ![]() The Marine Corps plans 200 CH-53Ks to retire CH-53Es and CH-53Ds. ![]()
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