Sikorsky has awarded a contract to Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to design and develop maintenance training systems for the US Marine Corps’ (USMC) CH-53K heavy lift helicopter.
Under the $8.5m contract, Kratos will provide a full-fidelity maintenance training device suite (MTDS) and a helicopter emulation maintenance trainer (HEMT) to the Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, US.
Sikorsky is currently under contract for the design and build of the CH-53K dual-piloted, multi-engine helicopter, which can provide almost triple the external load carrying capacity of the existing CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter.
Scheduled to be operational in 2019, the helicopters will provide reduced operating costs and enhanced interoperability for the USMC.
The CH-53K helicopter can perform missions including movement of cargo and equipment, transportation of troops, and amphibious assault and operations ashore, day or night, in battlefield conditions.
Kratos training solutions senior vice president Jose Diaz said Kratos will provide maintenance training systems for the USMC’s new CH-53K heavy lift helicopters.
"These advanced systems will significantly enhance the training performance for Marine Corps aircrews and maintainers," Diaz added.
The MTDS is a full-fidelity maintenance trainer designed to offer maintainers with a true-to-life environment for training and evaluating of multiple subsystems on the CH-53K platform.
In addition to supporting maintenance training, the MTDS will provide remove-and-replace training for avionics systems, electrical systems, hydraulic systems and many other mechanical subsystems.
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.
Image: USMC’s CH-53E helicopters aboard an amphibious assault ship. Photo: Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Ken J. Riley, U.S. Navy.
