Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a Lockheed Martin Co., Stratford, Connecticut, is awarded $125,424,833 (not-to-exceed) for a firm-fixed-price advanced acquisition contract to procure long lead items for low-rate initial production of the seven Lot 5 CH-53K heavy-lift aircraft. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Work will be performed in Stratford, Connecticut, and is expected to be complete by August 2021.
The Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion is a heavy-lift cargo helicopter currently being developed by Sikorsky Aircraft for the United States Marine Corps (USMC). The design features three 7,500 shp (5,590 kW) engines, new composite rotor blades, and a wider aircraft cabin than previous CH-53 variants. It will be the largest and heaviest helicopter in the U.S. military. The CH-53K King Stallion advances Sikorsky’s 50 years of manufacturing and operational success with its CH-53A, CH-53D/G, and CH-53E predecessors.
The CH-53K helicopter has been designed and built to the exacting standards of the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) and will serve as its critical land and sea based logistics connector. The new heavy lifter will allow the U.S. Marine Corps and international militaries to move troops and equipment from ship to shore, and to higher altitude terrain, more quickly and effectively than ever before. The CH-53K continues to successfully execute key performance, test, and production milestones.
