thedrifter
05-30-06, 02:14 PM
June 05, 2006
Strengthening the Stallions
Helos up-armored to beat ground fire
By Christian Lowe
Times staff writer
It isn’t exactly a chest made of lead, but it’s close enough to make the Corps’ fleet of “stallions” a lot more bulletproof than they were before.
The Corps’ entire fleet of heavy-lift CH-53E Super Stallions and medium-lift CH-53D Sea Stallions has recently been upgraded with armor plating that keeps cargo, passengers and crew safer from ground fire.
The 1,500-pound addition was completed on all 148 Super Stallions in 2005, with all 35 Sea Stallions fully outfitted this year, said Col. Paul Croisetiere, heavy-lift helicopter program manager with Naval Air Systems Command, at the Military Armor Protection conference in Washington, D.C., on May 24. The conference was sponsored by the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement.
“Now, we routinely operate everywhere the bad guys are,” Croisetiere said.
Designed during the Cold War to transport downed aircraft and nuclear weapons, the CH-53 has been pressed into service in recent years as a tactical transport for combat missions in enemy territory.
Even Navy MH-53E Sea Dragons — which are normally used for airborne mine countermeasures — have been armored, serving in Afghanistan for air assault and transport missions.
The 53s were not designed with crew protection in mind, Croisetiere said, but today’s missions mean the heavy transports often have to endure enemy fire.
So as the Corps ramped up to design the Sikorsky-built CH-53E’s replacement, the service also set to work bolstering the protection on the existing fleet.
“The design is simple, with simple requirements,” Croisetiere said, adding that the armoring plan benefited from a similar Army program.
At the end of 2003, the Corps began retrofitting CH-53Es with heavy woven-composite armor plates to the transport’s floor — material that can absorb small-arms and anti-aircraft artillery threats, Croisetiere said.
The plates have been installed in the cargo bay, rear loading ramp and cockpit, he added, but no armor has been installed to protect the transport’s side.
“We did some studies that said there really wasn’t a significant threat from small arms coming in from the side of the aircraft,” Croisetiere said. “That’s obviously a decision you have to make for cost and weight.”
The Corps recently inked a deal to replace its aging Super Stallion fleet with a new helicopter sporting beefier engines, an updated cockpit and better ballistic protection.
The new helicopter — designated the CH-53K — should make its way into the fleet by 2015. The medium-lift CH-53Ds are being replaced by the MV-22 Osprey, a tilt-rotor aircraft.
Ellie
Strengthening the Stallions
Helos up-armored to beat ground fire
By Christian Lowe
Times staff writer
It isn’t exactly a chest made of lead, but it’s close enough to make the Corps’ fleet of “stallions” a lot more bulletproof than they were before.
The Corps’ entire fleet of heavy-lift CH-53E Super Stallions and medium-lift CH-53D Sea Stallions has recently been upgraded with armor plating that keeps cargo, passengers and crew safer from ground fire.
The 1,500-pound addition was completed on all 148 Super Stallions in 2005, with all 35 Sea Stallions fully outfitted this year, said Col. Paul Croisetiere, heavy-lift helicopter program manager with Naval Air Systems Command, at the Military Armor Protection conference in Washington, D.C., on May 24. The conference was sponsored by the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement.
“Now, we routinely operate everywhere the bad guys are,” Croisetiere said.
Designed during the Cold War to transport downed aircraft and nuclear weapons, the CH-53 has been pressed into service in recent years as a tactical transport for combat missions in enemy territory.
Even Navy MH-53E Sea Dragons — which are normally used for airborne mine countermeasures — have been armored, serving in Afghanistan for air assault and transport missions.
The 53s were not designed with crew protection in mind, Croisetiere said, but today’s missions mean the heavy transports often have to endure enemy fire.
So as the Corps ramped up to design the Sikorsky-built CH-53E’s replacement, the service also set to work bolstering the protection on the existing fleet.
“The design is simple, with simple requirements,” Croisetiere said, adding that the armoring plan benefited from a similar Army program.
At the end of 2003, the Corps began retrofitting CH-53Es with heavy woven-composite armor plates to the transport’s floor — material that can absorb small-arms and anti-aircraft artillery threats, Croisetiere said.
The plates have been installed in the cargo bay, rear loading ramp and cockpit, he added, but no armor has been installed to protect the transport’s side.
“We did some studies that said there really wasn’t a significant threat from small arms coming in from the side of the aircraft,” Croisetiere said. “That’s obviously a decision you have to make for cost and weight.”
The Corps recently inked a deal to replace its aging Super Stallion fleet with a new helicopter sporting beefier engines, an updated cockpit and better ballistic protection.
The new helicopter — designated the CH-53K — should make its way into the fleet by 2015. The medium-lift CH-53Ds are being replaced by the MV-22 Osprey, a tilt-rotor aircraft.
Ellie