Company Will Design And Develop CH-53K Helicopter Maintenance Training Systems

A contract worth over $8.5 million for the design and development of maintenance training systems for the CH-53K heavy lift replacement helicopter has been awarded to Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by Sikorsky. Kratos will provide a full-fidelity Maintenance Training Device Suite (MTDS), as well as a Helicopter Emulation Maintenance Trainer (HEMT), which will be delivered to the Marine Corps Air Station New River, NC.

Sikorsky leads a team that is designing and building the CH-53K heavy lift helicopter for the U.S. Marine Corps. Once operational in 2019, CH-53K aircraft will almost triple the external load carrying capacity of the existing CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter to more than 27,000 pounds over 110 nautical miles under "high and hot" ambient conditions.

The MTDS is a full-fidelity maintenance trainer that will provide a true-to-life environment for training and evaluating the maintainers of multiple subsystems on the CH-53K platform. The MTDS supports maintenance training as well as remove-and replace training for avionics systems, electrical systems, hydraulic systems and many other mechanical subsystems.
 
In addition to MTDS, Kratos will also design and develop the HEMT, which uses a 3D virtual environment to support maintenance training scenarios. The HEMT will provide Marine Corps CH-53K Enlisted Aircrew and maintainers with an accurate environment to train functional tests, fault isolation, troubleshooting, and remove and installation for 27 subsystems.
 
"Kratos is pleased to be selected by Sikorsky as a principal value added partner to provide maintenance training systems for the new CH-53K heavy lift helicopter," said Jose Diaz, Senior Vice President of Training Solutions. "These advanced systems will significantly enhance the training performance for Marine Corps aircrews and maintainers."

(CH-53K pictured in file photo)

FMI: www.kratosdefense.com