NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS Command and Sikorsky have completed a restructuring plan for the CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter program. The move was prompted because the King Stallion ‘wasn’t achieving test points as fast as it should have despite the ongoing test flights,’ according to the US Navy’s acquisition chief. The service was concerned because there was no way to address deffciencies as they were discovered in the helicopters. They needed to ensure that the necessary flxes were able to be incorporated into the first production aircraft. To correct the situation, the service paused testing and production contract negotiations. Henceforth, known flxes will be incorporated into the production aircraft rather than as retrots. The service says it now expects to issue the next production contract in the very near future. The navy had previously issued a contract for the first two low-rate initial production CH-53Ks.
The CH-53K program is reportedly running as much as 19 months behind schedule and will not meet its December 2019 target for initial operational capability (IOC). The number of unresolved technical deffciencies discovered during testing has reportedly grown to more than 100. The discovery of these i…
