The King Stallion maintains similar physical dimensions and “footprint” as its predecessor, the three-engine CH-53E SUPER STALLION helicopter, but will more than triple the payload to 27,000 pounds over 110 nautical miles under “high hot” ambient conditions.įeatures of the CH-53K helicopter include a modern glass cockpit fly-by-wire flight controls fourth-generation rotor blades with anhedral tips a low maintenance elastomeric rotor head upgraded engines a locking, United States Air Force pallet compatible cargo rail system external cargo handling improvements survivability enhancements and improved reliability, maintainability and supportability. Sikorsky Aircraft, a Lockheed Martin company, is developing the CH-53K King Stallion heavy lift helicopter for the U.S. “Our program continues on pace to deploy this incredible heavy lift capability to our warfighters. Marine Corps Program Manager for Heavy Lift Helicopters. “It is exciting to have achieved our first external lift, another important step towards fielding the most powerful U.S. An auto-jettison system is incorporated to protect the aircraft in the event of a load attachment point failure. The system features an electrical load release capability from the cockpit and cabin, and a mechanical load release capability at each of the pendant locations. capability and dual-point hooks each capable of carrying up to 25,200 lbs. The CH-53K is designed with state-of-the-art digital tools that reduce program risk and pilot workload, and increase mission flexibility and safety. Marine Corps describe the current flight test program and explain how the CH-53K ‘King Stallion’ helicopter feels during flight. The three external cargo hooks include a single centre point hook with a 36,000 lb. Lockheed Martin, Pilots from Sikorsky and the U.S. The CH-53K King Stallion is equipped with single, dual and triple external cargo hook capability that will allow for the transfer of three independent external loads to three separate landing zones in support of distributed operations in one single sortie without having to return to a ship or other logistical hub. The aircraft will then carry 20,000 and 27,000 pound external payloads. Initial external payloads weighing 12,000 pounds will be flown first in hover and then incrementally to speeds up to 120 knots. The third and fourth King Stallion aircraft will join the flight test program this summer.Īs the King Stallion flight test program proceeds, both of the current flying aircraft will be exercised to expand the external load envelope. To date these helicopters have achieved over 50 flight hours combined including one flight at speeds over 140 knots. The first two CH-53K heavy lift helicopters achieved their first flights on October 27, 2015, and January 22, 2016, respectively. “Our flight envelope expansion efforts remain on track, and we continue to make good progress toward our initial operational test assessment later this year, and ultimately full aircraft system qualification.” “Achieving our first external lift signifies another milestone for the CH-53K program,” said Mike Torok, Sikorsky’s Vice President of CH-53K Programs.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |