Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. says it’s proceeding to the next phase in developing a new generation of the Marines’ workhorse CH-53 heavy-lift helicopter.
The Stratford helicopter maker, a unit of United Technologies Corp. in Hartford, says the new design of the 47-year-old copter has passed muster with military reviewers and is now headed for assembly, testing and evaluation of a K-model prototype of the CH-53.
Sikorsky has a $3 billion Navy contract to upgrade the three-engine CH-53 with, among other things, a new glass cockpit featuring fly-by-wire controls, and upgraded engines and rotor blades to handle a greater payload. Subcontracts totaling about $1 billion have been awarded for development work on the new model, the company said.
The CH-53K is the eventual successor to the CH-53E Super Stallion and CH-53D Sea Stallion models.
Assembly will be done in Sikorsky’s West Palm Beach, Fla., facility.
