Forget the CH-53 Super Stallion, there’s a new heavy lift Marine coming onboard; CH-53K King Stallion.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Ethan Pumphret.
Marine Operational Test & Evaluation Squadron-1 load the main gear box of the new CH-53K King Stallion onto the aircraft, Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River, North Carolina, 03OCT2018.
USMC photo by Lance Corporal Samuel Lyden.
The first CH-53K King Stallion hovers above the flight line at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River, North Carolina, 16MAY2018.It’s not a rebuild, it’s completely new with reduced weight yet stronger construction, fly-by-wire, and able to lift three times more that the Super Stallion (externally transport 27-thousand pounds/12247 kilos over 110 nautical miles/127 miles/203.7km and has a max external lift of 36-thousand pounds/16329.3 kilos). The most noticeable visual difference is the cockpit/nose section of the rotary wing aircraft.
USMC photo by Sergeant Matthew Callahan.
The first CH-53K King Stallion taxis across the flight line at MCAS New River, North Carolina, 16MAY2018.
Offical U.S. Marine Corps video explainer:
USMC photo by Lance Corporal Samuel Lyden.
Another video, MCAS New River, North Carolina, 16MAY2018:
USMC photo by Sergeant Matthew Callahan.
USMC photo by Lance Cpl. Leynard Kyle Plazo.
USMC photo by Corporal Hailey D. Clay.
USMC General checks out the new CH-53K at the Berlin Air Show, Berlin ExpoCenter Airport, Schönefeld, Deutschland, 25APR2018.
USMC photo by Corporal Hailey D. Clay.
Video of heavy lift demo at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, 18JAN2018:
USMC photo by Lance Corporal Molly Hampton.
Test flight over West Palm Beach, Florida, 22MAR2017.
Official video from April 2017:
USMC photo by Lance Corporal Molly Hampton.
By April 2017, the CH-53K had passed its Defense Acquisition Board assessment, and low-rate initial production began. The CH-53K is scheduled to completely replace the CH-53E Super Stallion by 2030.
USMC photo by Staff Sergeant Gabriela Garcia.
“Experimental” silly-vilian colors (and nose) at Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in Florida, 08MAR2016.
USMC photo by Staff Sergeant Gabriela Garcia.
Vehicle I-D: CH-53 SEA STALLION MCAS-YUMA, APRIL 2017