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thedrifter
08-07-09, 08:23 AM
CH-53K to take shape
Alexander Soule

Aug-06-09, 10:45 AM

Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. has begun receiving transmission gear forgings and other parts for the planned CH-53K heavy lift helicopter Sikorsky is developing for the U.S. Marine Corps.


A division of Hartford-based United Technologies Corp., Sikorsky is the largest employer in Fairfield County with about 9,000 employees. The prototypes will be built at the manufacturer’s development flight center in West Palm Beach, Fla.


Sikorsky hopes to build more than 200 of the aircraft for deployment beginning in 2015, replacing the Marines’ aging fleet of CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters currently in use. Sikorsky has been developing the helicopter under a $3 billion contract awarded by the Pentagon in 2006.


The CH-53K would be the largest helicopter in the U.S. military, designed to carry up to 55 troops or 27,000 pounds of cargo a distance of 125 miles at high altitude in combat theaters, with two pilots and three gunners.
The helicopter’s engines will be made by the GE Aviation division of Fairfield-based General Electric Co.


“The arrival of the first forgings is a significant and visible milestone for the program,” said John Johnson, a Sikorsky manager who is overseeing the CH-53K helicopter program. “It means the program is advancing from the paper stages of engineering and design to the hardware stages of castings and forgings. It is exciting to see such an impressive aircraft start coming to life.”

Ellie