(Luft) Boeing CH-47F Chinook // Schwerer Transporthubschrauber (STH) // CH-53-Nachfolger

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:hand: von <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/2005/08/hlr-ch53x-helicopter-program-moves-toward-milestone-b-approval/index.php#orison_mc">http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/200 ... #orison_mc</a><!-- m -->

HLR (CH-53X) Helicopter Program Moves Toward Milestone B Approval
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, CT received a $43.3 million cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order against a previous basic ordering agreement (N00019-03-G-0003) to perform requirements definition and engineering studies in support of the Marine Corps' Heavy Lift Replacement (HLR) Program. While several awards under this contract covered the Presidential Helicopter program (as DID reported, Sikorsky lost) and other helicopter engineering, a similar $34 million HLR-related time and materials delivery order was issued on Dec 23/04.

The HLR program is also known as the CH-53X...

It calls for development and procurement of 156 new-build helicopters derived from the CH-53 Super Stallion, with first deliveries are planned for 2014. The new HLR will feature upgraded, engines, improved rotor blades, new avionics, new rotorhead, improved survivability, and longer service life. See also this interview with HLR program manager Col. Paul Croisetiere. [...]

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Marines Bring CH-53s Back From the Dead
The technical and testing delays in getting the MV-22 tilt-rotor transport aircraft into service, plus the heavy workload for U.S. Marine Corps heavy helicopters in Iraq and Afghanistan, has led to a desperate, and very rare, measure. The marines are restoring three mothballed helicopters to active service. This is rarely done. But the 150 CH-53 helicopters the marines currently use are old, and require a lot of maintenance to keep them going. So three similar MH-53E helicopters, which have been sitting in an Arizona storage site since the mid 1990s, are being refurbished to become CH-53s. [...]