thedrifter
08-10-04, 08:36 AM
Issue Date: August 09, 2004
Plan for new CH-53 is a smart move, but it’s time to speed up development
The CH-53E Super Stallion is writing a great chapter in the history of Marine aviation.
Now it’s time for the next chapter. We need to speed up procurement of the CH-53X, the next-generation version of the Marines’ heavy-lift helicopter.
Although the 172nd and final CH-53E was delivered to Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C., only last December, the average age of a typical Marine Corps CH-53E is 16 years.
Quite simply, the fleet is wearing out.
“The CH-53E has a lot of power,” said Capt. Andrew H. Mills Jr., 27, from Columbia, S.C., who flew the aircraft in Iraq. “It’s a great aircraft and very capable, [but] its T-64 engine is under scrutiny and the helicopter is very high maintenance.”
Demands on the Super Stallion fleet are harsher than anyone expected. The Marine Corps would prefer to use the aircraft to haul equipment while relying on the CH-46 Sea Knight to carry people. The Marine Corps plans to replace the decades-old Sea Knights with the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, which would assume the people-hauling mission. But technical problems have delayed the V-22.
When helicopters carried Marines from ship to shore for an airfield seizure mission in Afghanistan on Nov. 25, 2001, the helicopters were CH-53Es. The CH-46 simply wasn’t up to the task.
Thanks to the CH-53E, the mission went off as planned. The patch of land later known as Camp Rhino fell swiftly into American hands.
The Marine Corps found itself using the CH-53E to carry both people and things — a double duty that is certain to increase maintenance problems and wear on airframes.
The Marines who support, maintain and fly the CH-53E fleet are taking advantage of the helicopter’s strengths, overcoming its drawbacks and doing a great job for America. But we can give them a better helicopter. They shouldn’t be required to struggle with aging equipment solely because the Corps has bet too many marbles on the long-postponed and much-overrated V-22.
In 2000, the Marine Corps announced that the current CH-53E fleet would receive a service-life upgrade.
That turned out to be a false start.
The Corps was also studying a next-generation version of the CH-53E, now called the CH-53X.
In March, the Marine Corps announced it would replace today’s CH-53E fleet with 154 “new-build” CH-53X models. This means there will be no service-life upgrade for the existing CH-53Es, but it also means that hardworking Marines will get the new, heavy-lift helicopter they need.
The CH-53X will feature increased lifting capacity, an improved rotor system and better engines. It may also have a modern digital cockpit, which some Marines consider to be more cosmetic than necessary. And if Marines have anything to say about it, the CH-53X will be easier to maintain. According to Sgt. David L. McMichael, a CH-53E crew chief at New River, the current Super Stallion requires 36 maintenance hours for every flight hour.
The Marine Corps is on the right flight path but needs a little more airspeed. Building a better H-53 is a practical and cost-beneficial approach, but it’s taking too long. At the current, very cautious pace of the CH-53X program, Marines say the CH-53X will be in service between 2012 and 2015.
Our leaders should consider accelerating the CH-53X program so Marines can be equipped with the best heavy-lift helicopter as early as possible. Military procurement programs sometimes don’t materialize at all, as the cancellation of the CH-53E upgrade program illustrates. The CH-53X is something the Corps really needs. We should do more than make certain the program survives. We should speed it up.
Robert F. Dorr, an Air Force veteran, lives in Oakton, Va. He is the author of numerous books on Air Force topics, including “Air Force One.” His e-mail address is robert.f.dorr@cox.net.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-MARINEPAPER-272542.php
Ellie
Plan for new CH-53 is a smart move, but it’s time to speed up development
The CH-53E Super Stallion is writing a great chapter in the history of Marine aviation.
Now it’s time for the next chapter. We need to speed up procurement of the CH-53X, the next-generation version of the Marines’ heavy-lift helicopter.
Although the 172nd and final CH-53E was delivered to Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C., only last December, the average age of a typical Marine Corps CH-53E is 16 years.
Quite simply, the fleet is wearing out.
“The CH-53E has a lot of power,” said Capt. Andrew H. Mills Jr., 27, from Columbia, S.C., who flew the aircraft in Iraq. “It’s a great aircraft and very capable, [but] its T-64 engine is under scrutiny and the helicopter is very high maintenance.”
Demands on the Super Stallion fleet are harsher than anyone expected. The Marine Corps would prefer to use the aircraft to haul equipment while relying on the CH-46 Sea Knight to carry people. The Marine Corps plans to replace the decades-old Sea Knights with the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, which would assume the people-hauling mission. But technical problems have delayed the V-22.
When helicopters carried Marines from ship to shore for an airfield seizure mission in Afghanistan on Nov. 25, 2001, the helicopters were CH-53Es. The CH-46 simply wasn’t up to the task.
Thanks to the CH-53E, the mission went off as planned. The patch of land later known as Camp Rhino fell swiftly into American hands.
The Marine Corps found itself using the CH-53E to carry both people and things — a double duty that is certain to increase maintenance problems and wear on airframes.
The Marines who support, maintain and fly the CH-53E fleet are taking advantage of the helicopter’s strengths, overcoming its drawbacks and doing a great job for America. But we can give them a better helicopter. They shouldn’t be required to struggle with aging equipment solely because the Corps has bet too many marbles on the long-postponed and much-overrated V-22.
In 2000, the Marine Corps announced that the current CH-53E fleet would receive a service-life upgrade.
That turned out to be a false start.
The Corps was also studying a next-generation version of the CH-53E, now called the CH-53X.
In March, the Marine Corps announced it would replace today’s CH-53E fleet with 154 “new-build” CH-53X models. This means there will be no service-life upgrade for the existing CH-53Es, but it also means that hardworking Marines will get the new, heavy-lift helicopter they need.
The CH-53X will feature increased lifting capacity, an improved rotor system and better engines. It may also have a modern digital cockpit, which some Marines consider to be more cosmetic than necessary. And if Marines have anything to say about it, the CH-53X will be easier to maintain. According to Sgt. David L. McMichael, a CH-53E crew chief at New River, the current Super Stallion requires 36 maintenance hours for every flight hour.
The Marine Corps is on the right flight path but needs a little more airspeed. Building a better H-53 is a practical and cost-beneficial approach, but it’s taking too long. At the current, very cautious pace of the CH-53X program, Marines say the CH-53X will be in service between 2012 and 2015.
Our leaders should consider accelerating the CH-53X program so Marines can be equipped with the best heavy-lift helicopter as early as possible. Military procurement programs sometimes don’t materialize at all, as the cancellation of the CH-53E upgrade program illustrates. The CH-53X is something the Corps really needs. We should do more than make certain the program survives. We should speed it up.
Robert F. Dorr, an Air Force veteran, lives in Oakton, Va. He is the author of numerous books on Air Force topics, including “Air Force One.” His e-mail address is robert.f.dorr@cox.net.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-MARINEPAPER-272542.php
Ellie