US Navy awards Sikorsky $2.7 billion for 35 CH-53K helicopters

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy awarded its largest contract yet for the CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopter program, with a $2.77 billion contract Thursday for 35 aircraft.

The contract with Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin subsidiary, covers 12 lot 7 and 15 lot 8 aircraft for the U.S. Marine Corps, as well as eight aircraft for the Israeli Air Force.

“This contract award for 35 CH-53K helicopters stabilizes Sikorsky’s nationwide supply base, creates additional production efficiencies, and provides the U.S. Marine Corps with transformative 21st century technologies,” Sikorsky President Paul Lemmo said in a news release.

Deliveries will begin in 2026, according to the release.

Israel previously purchased four aircraft in 2022 under a Foreign Military Sales agreement. The helicopter will support the Israeli Air Force’s special operations program, among other missions.

Israel signed on to buy the 12 aircraft now on contract, and has an option to buy six more. The U.S. Marine Corps have a program of record for 200 aircraft.

An artist rendering of a CH-53K helicopter for Israel. (Courtesy of Sikorsky)

For the Corps, the lot 7 and lot 8 contracts — using fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2024 money, respectively — are the first two full-rate production contracts. The Navy declared the program was ready for full-rate production in December .

Production at Sikorsky’s Connecticut facility will quickly ramp up, as the first six contracts cumulatively covered 42 aircraft. With full-rate production declared, the Corps is expected to buy 21 per year starting in FY25, budget documents show.

Bill Falk, Sikorsky’s CH-53K program manager, told reporters in April that the company had “dramatically changed our production line in Connecticut as we ramp towards full-rate production.”

The plant now has two parallel production lines, allowing for the company to churn out two helicopters a month. That could grow to three a month if needed, if additional foreign customers sign onto the program, he said.

Megan Eckstein is the naval warfare reporter at Defense News. She has covered military news since 2009, with a focus on U.S. Navy and Marine Corps operations, acquisition programs and budgets. She has reported from four geographic fleets and is happiest when she’s filing stories from a ship. Megan is a University of Maryland alumna.

华盛顿——美国海军周四授予了迄今为止 CH-53K“种马王”重型运输直升机项目最大的一份合同，价值 27.7 亿美元，用于采购 35 架飞机。

与洛克希德·马丁公司子公司西科斯基公司签订的合同涵盖为美国海军陆战队提供 12 架第 7 批次飞机和 15 架第 8 批次飞机，以及为以色列空军提供 8 架飞机。

“这份授予35架CH-53K直升机的合同稳定了西科斯基在全国的供应基础，提高了生产效率，并为美国海军陆战队提供了变革性的21世纪技术，”西科斯基总裁保罗·莱莫在一份新闻稿中表示。

根据新闻稿，交付工作将于 2026 年开始。

以色列此前于2022年根据对外军售协议购买了四架飞机。这架直升机将用于支持以色列空军的特种作战计划以及其他任务。

以色列已签署合同购买目前已订购的12架飞机，并拥有再购买6架的选择权。美国海军陆战队则制定了采购200架飞机的计划。

这是以色列使用的CH-53K直升机的艺术效果图。（图片由西科斯基公司提供）

对于海军陆战队而言，第7批和第8批合同——分别使用2023财年和2024财年的资金——是首批两份全速生产合同。海军于去年12月宣布该项目已准备好进行全速生产。

西科斯基公司位于康涅狄格州的工厂将迅速提高产量，前六份合同累计涵盖42架飞机。预算文件显示，随着全面投产的宣布，预计从2025财年开始，美国陆军工程兵团每年将采购21架。

西科斯基公司 CH-53K 项目经理比尔·福克在 4 月份告诉记者，随着公司逐步提高产量，康涅狄格州的生产线“已经发生了巨大变化”。

该工厂目前拥有两条并行的生产线，每月可生产两架直升机。他表示，如有需要，如果更多外国客户加入该项目，产量可增至每月三架。

梅根·埃克斯坦是《防务新闻》的海军作战记者。自2009年以来，她一直从事军事新闻报道，主要关注美国海军和海军陆战队的行动、采购项目和预算。她曾报道过四个不同地理区域的舰队，最喜欢在舰艇上进行新闻报道。梅根毕业于马里兰大学。