U.S. Navy OKs Full-Rate Production of CH-53K Helicopter

Sikorsky is set to ramp up manufacturing rate of the CH-53K helicopter to over 20 annually, with the U.S. Navy declaring full rate production for the aircraft.

The U.S. Marine Corps declared Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for the CH-53K helicopter in April 2022.

The CH‑53K is the only heavy-lift helicopter that will remain in production through 2032 and beyond. The CH-53K can carry a 27,000-pound external load over 110 nautical miles in high/hot conditions, which is more than triple the external load carrying capacity of the legacy CH-53E aircraft.

The CH-53K King Stallion is designed to conduct expeditionary assault transport of armored vehicles, equipment, and personnel to support distributed operations deep inland from a sea-based center of operations, critical in the Indo-Pacific region. The CH-53K is a digitally designed, market available aircraft, enabling a range of operations such as humanitarian relief, firefighting and search and rescue.