5 août 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval
Aircraft First Entered Service With The USMC In 1981
The CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter reached a major milestone this year by logging more than one million flight hours since it first entered service with the Marine Corps in 1981.
The CH-53E is a versatile machine used for amphibious assault and long-range insertion, delivering troops, vehicles and supplies. This rapid resupply vehicle is still one of the most used aircraft in the United States military air arsenal. “The CH-53E has seen more work than was ever anticipated it would see,” said Major Matthew Baumann, H-53 In-Service, Naval Air Systems Command Heavy Lift Helicopter program office (PMA-261) co-lead.
Currently, there are 142 CH-53E Super Stallions in service. Though out of production, the CH-53E is in the middle of a “RESET” – a rolling period of rebuilding, upgrading and increasing safety, reliability and capabilities to lengthen its service life through 2032.
According to Baumann, the first 25 helicopters have completed their RESET process, “allowing the squadron commanders to plan for training, operations and maintenance with renewed confidence,” he said.
Resetting of the CH-53E fleet is an important segue from the current platform to the new CH-53K King Stallion, which will be its heavy-lift replacement. “The CH-53K is the most powerful helicopter ever built by the United States military,” said Colonel Perrin, PMA-261 program manager. “It will be safer, faster and more capable than any previous heavy lift helicopter in the battlespace.”
Its development is currently in the testing and capability requirements phase, with a goal of bringing the CH-53K to fleet Marines by 2024. “It's a game-changer,” said Perrin. “We can't wait to have the K available for fleet use. But for now we've got a capable, reliable and safe helicopter doing heavy-lift for our Marines.”
http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=8e63f37f-9874-4fb9-acf1-72e67d6a9cbd
5 décembre 2022 | International, Aérospatial
âGone are the days when we could hand-wave training away. Warfare is obviously way too complicated for that now,â said Caroline Baxter.
12 novembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial
Steve Trimble The U.S. Army has started a long-term search for a replacement for the Raytheon FIM-92 Stinger short-range air defense surface-to-air missile system, with a contract award for up to 8,000 missiles planned by fiscal 2026. Any replacement for the Stinger must be compatible with the Initial Mobile-Short-Range Air Defense (IM-SHORAD), which uses the Stinger Vehicle Universal Launcher, according to a market survey released on Nov. 10 by the Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. “The Army is conducting a SHORAD study which will inform efforts to modernize and to address emerging threats, which may increase the demand for MANPADS capable missiles,” said the sources sought notice. The new missile must also be able to defeat fixed-wing ground attack aircraft, rotary wing aircraft and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in a size class that ranges between the Boeing Insitu Scan Eagle and the Textron AAI RQ-7, which are examples of Group 2 and Group 3 UAS. The Army is extending the service life of the Stinger Block 1, but the original version of the Stinger with a reprogrammable microprocessor will become obsolete in fiscal 2023, the notice said. The sources sought notice asked interested companies to supply a wide range of information, such as a rough order of magnitude estimate for the cost and schedule of developing and delivering up 8,000 missiles. The Stinger defined the role of a man-portable air defense system quickly after the Army launched development in 1972. Though designed for ground-launch by a human, the missile has also been integrated on fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and large UAS. The all-up round includes the 1.52 m-long FIM-92 Stinger missile, a launch tube and a fire control and aiming system. The missile itself is guided by an infrared/ultraviolet seeker, and controlled with four small rectangular fins. https://aviationweek.com/special-topics/air-dominance/us-army-opens-5-year-search-stinger-missile-replacement
10 janvier 2022 | International, Aérospatial
The regions with the fastest-growing military MRO demand are South Asia and the Asia-Pacific, both expanding at a 2.2% CAGR over the next decade.