Sikorsky Officially Opened The New Facility In Palm Beach
County
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. officially opened a new facility at its
Florida Assembly and Flight Operations (FAFO) campus, establishing
experimental assembly line operations for the new CH-53K heavy lift
helicopter.
Since 1959, United Technologies Corporation has been in
operation in Palm Beach County with Pratt & Whitney military
engine programs and Sikorsky development and certification programs
that have included research aircraft such as the XH-59, fly-by-wire
aircraft and the UH-60M BLACK HAWK helicopter. "The production of
the next generation of heavy lift helicopter prototype is
underway," said Dennis Jarvi, vice president, Navy and Marine Corps
Programs for Sikorsky.
"As we commence assembly line operations at FAFO, we are
witnessing the dawn of a new age in rotorcraft development and
construction. The CH-53K helicopter is being digitally designed and
manufactured. We have created 'virtual tools' that will improve the
learning process and identify and solve issues before they become
costly delays in manufacturing. The CH-53K helicopter stands to
become a model of innovative technology and capability when it
takes its role in the fleet."
The CH-53K helicopter Florida Assembly and Flight Operations
facility consists of approximately 60,000 square feet of space. The
building, originally the home of Pratt & Whitney-Rocketdyne,
has been completely updated to create a modern assembly area.
Overhead power and air dropdowns, new aircraft work stands, and
overhead cranes have been installed to support aircraft final
assembly and rotor head/quality control assembly operations.
The state-of-the-art facility also provides wireless data
connections to all operator plasma data screens. The new FAFO
operation will introduce the use of digital operation sheets to aid
in assembly and operate a four-position flight line to produce the
new aircraft. "The CH-53K helicopter team has combined the new
advances in technology with the learning of more than 70 years of
manufacturing into a robust process that is expected to gain
significant efficiencies during the build of the aircraft," said
John Johnson, CH-53K helicopter program manager.
Five System Development and Demonstration (SDD) prototype
aircraft will be built at the FAFO facility, with two additional
airframe test articles produced at Sikorsky's main manufacturing
plant in Stratford, Conn. Once assembled, the aircraft will be
delivered to the Sikorsky Development Flight Center (DFC) in West
Palm Beach, Fla., to undergo flight testing.
Mick Maurer, president of Sikorsky Military Systems, said: "The
Development Flight Center has been the starting point of many
storied aircraft programs for Sikorsky. From building the S-76
series aircraft to testing the complex CH148 helicopter and flying
the revolutionary X2 Technology demonstrator, the DFC has a history
that will soon have a new success story to add to its resume: the
impressive, powerful CH-53K helicopter."
Sikorsky Aircraft received a $3 billion System Development and
Demonstration (SDD) contract on April 5, 2006 to develop a
replacement for the U.S. Marine Corps CH-53E heavy lift helicopter.
The new aircraft program is planned to include production of more
than 200 aircraft. Currently, the CH-53K helicopter is in the SDD
phase with all of the major subcontracts awarded and valued at over
$1.1 billion.
The CH-53K helicopter will maintain virtually the same footprint
as its predecessor, the three-engine CH-53E SUPER STALLION
helicopter, but will nearly triple the payload to 27,000 pounds
over 110 nautical miles under "high hot" ambient conditions. The
CH-53E helicopter is currently the largest, most powerful marinized
helicopter in the world. It is deployed from Marine Corps
amphibious assault ships to transport personnel and equipment and
to carry external (sling) cargo loads.
The CH-53K helicopter's maximum gross weight (MGW) with internal
loads is 74,000 pounds compared to 69,750 pounds for the CH-53E
aircraft. The CH-53K's MGW with external loads is 88,000 pounds as
compared to 73,500 for the CH-53E helicopter.
Features of the CH-53K helicopter include: a modern glass
cockpit; fly-by-wire flight controls; fourth generation rotor
blades with anhedral tips; a low-maintenance elastomeric rotor
head; upgraded engines; a locking cargo rail system; external cargo
handling improvements; survivability enhancements; and improved
reliability, maintainability and supportability. The program is
expected to achieve the Initial Operational Capability milestone in
FY18.