About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

CH-53 Sea Stallion

Encyclopedia : C : CH : CH5 : CH-53 Sea Stallion

The CH-53 Sea Stallion is the most common name for the Sikorsky S-65 family of heavy transport helicopter. Originally developed for use by the United States Marine Corps, it is the largest helicopter in the Western world. It is also in service with Israel and Germany, and the MH-53 with the United States Air Force. It is designated the CH-53 Yas'ur in the IAF.

A variant, the CH-53E Super Stallion, while dimensionally similar, is a much improved version designated S-80E by Sikorsky, which replaced the Sea Stallion in the heavy airlift mission. With a third engine, it is significantly more powerful than the Sea Stallion.

In the U.S. inventory, current CH-53D and MH-53 models will be replaced by the V-22 Osprey, while an CH-53K a new production CH-53 will replace the Super Stallion. Recently given the formal designation CH-53K. The program's value will be over $4 billion, and its requirements will define the future of the US Marine Corps' medium-heavy lift capabilities. In recent news, Sikorsky just received $3.04 billion for the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) of the CH-53K aircraft, to include 4 SDD aircraft, 1 ground test vehicle, and associated program management and test support. Rockwell Collins has recently been selected by Sikorsky as the vendor for the avionics management system.

Contents

History

The CH-53A was ordered in 1962 to satisfy the Marine Corps' requirement for a heavy-lift helicopter. The first aircraft flew October 12, 1964. It would be replaced by the CH-53D. The US Air Force ordered HH-53B and HH-53C variants for Search and Rescue units, and developed the MH-53J Pave Low version for Special Operations missions. Pave Lows often work in conjunction with MC-130 Combat Talon for navigation, communications and combat support, and with HC-130 for inflight refueling.

Due to its large size and troop capacity, aerial accidents that involve CH-53 helicopters were the deadliest helicopter accidents ever. In "The Helicopter Catastrophe" [link], that happened on 4 February 1997 in Israel, the death toll was 73 people from 2 CH-53 helicopters. On 10 May 1977, 54 people were killed in a similar accident, also in Israel. On Jan. 26, 2005, a CH-53 went down in bad weather in western Iraq, killing 31 U.S. service members. This was followed a year later by a crash of two CH-53 Sea Stallions on February 17, 2006, where eight Marines and two airmen were killed while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in the Gulf of Aden near Ras Siyyan, northern Djibouti.

In late February, 2006, the Marine Corps announced that the V-22 Osprey, a tilt-rotor aircraft, will be sent into combat within a year with VMM-263 []. The V-22 Osprey will replace the Marine Corps CH-46E and CH-53D. However, it will not replace the Air Force's MH-53 Pave Low helicopters.

Combat Experience

The CH-53/HH-53 has significant combat experience during its lengthy service, with both the U.S. military during the Vietnam War and as a Special Operations helicopter, and the Israeli Air Force.

Air Force HH-53 Super Jollies became the primary Search and Rescue helicopter in Southeast Asia between 1967 and 1975, inserted the Operation Ivory Coast rescue team into the North Vietnamese prison camp at Son Tay in 1970, and were the transport force for Marines attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Mayaguez. Marine-flown Navy Sea Stallions comprised the rotary wing element of Operation Eagle Claw, the attempted rescue of American hostages in Iran in 1980 that ended in disaster and embarrassment at "Desert One."

In 1970, during the War of Attrition, an IAF Yas'ur CH-53 landed in Egypt and conveyed a captured Soviet advanced radar back to Israel for examination by Israeli scientists and engineers. The Yas'ur played a major role in 1973 Yom Kippur War, moving artillery batteries around the fronts, evacuating wounded soldiers and rescuing pilots from behind enemy lines. In one engagement, a Yas'ur was damaged by cannon fire from a MiG-21 but managed to return safely to base. Since 1973 Yas'urs have also been used by the IDF to land and extract Sayeret commandos on deep raids into Lebanon and Syria.

Variants

MH-53 Pave Low III
Enlarge
MH-53 Pave Low III

For other variants, see CH-53E Super Stallion and CH-53K.

Specifications

German CH-53G presented in Laage
Enlarge
German CH-53G presented in Laage

MH-53M In Iraq, Summer 2004
Enlarge
MH-53M In Iraq, Summer 2004

Specifications (CH-53D)

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

Operators

Former operator

Austria which ordered two in 1968 and delivered in 1970, but in 1981 sold them to Israel because of the high cost to operate them.

External links

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: