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Sikorsky Aircraft announced today that it has selected four
subcontractors to design and fabricate the major fuselage sections
for its new CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter currently under development
for the United States Marine Corps. Sikorsky's Fuselage Team
will consist of Aurora Flight Sciences, EDO Corp., GKN Aerospace,
and Spirit AeroSystems. Sikorsky will conduct the integration
and test program on the complete fuselage structure. The major
subcontracted sections include the cockpit and cabin (Spirit),
aft transition (GKN), tail rotor pylon and sponsons (EDO), and
main rotor pylon (Aurora).
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The USMC
is expected to replace 156 current CH-53E Super Stalion helicopters
with the CH-53K aircraft. The CH-53K will maintain virtually
the same footprint as the CH-53E but will nearly double the
payload to 27,000 pounds over 110 nautical miles under "hot
high" ambient conditions. The CH-53K's maximum gross weight
will increase to 84,700 pounds from 72,500 pounds for the CH-53E.
The CH-53K also is expected to result in reduced operation and
support costs. Upgrades include joint interoperable glass cockpit;
fly-by-wire flight controls; fourth generation rotor blades
with anhedral tip; low-maintenance elastomeric rotorhead; gross
weight expansion; upgraded engine system; cargo rail locking
system; external cargo handling improvements; and survivability
enhancements.
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