Jane Edwards
Lockheed Martin has received Milestone C approval to transition the Sikorsky-built CH-53K King Stallion helicopter to the low-rate initial production phase.
Lockheed said Tuesday the CH-53K aircraft was granted the approval after it completed production readiness reviews and initial operational assessment by the U.S. Marine Corps in October 2016.
The helicopter also completed its Defense Acquisition Board assessment.
Michael Torok, vice president of CH-53K programs at Sikorsky, said the approval seeks to validate the aircraft’s capability to meet the Marines’ mission requirements.
Lockheed expects to hand over next year to USMC the first six of the 200 King Stallion aircraft under the Defense Department’s program of record and deliver two additional LRIP helicopters by 2020 as the service branch prepares to establish eight active duty squadrons, one reserve squadron and another training squadron to meet operational requirements.
CH-53KÂ is a heavy-lift helicopter that works to provide maritime- and ground-based logistics support to USMCÂ and is designed to lift up to 27,000 pounds of external payloads.
The aircraft also has fly-by-wire flight controls, stability augmentation tools, command-velocity hold and tactile cueing functions.
