Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky Helicopter division has received the fifth system demonstration test article (SDTA) CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopter fuselage from Spirit AeroSystems.

Spirit AeroSystems delivered the fuselage from its facility in Wichita, Kansas, and is also scheduled to supply the 13th all-composite cabin and cockpit later this year.

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The company is contracted to carry out the entire assembly of the cockpit and cabin of the US Marine Corps’ (USMC) CH-53K King Stallion aircraft, as well as supply the complete fuselage to Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sikorsky.

“This lightweight composite fuselage structure will support the Marine Corps requirement of much-needed additional heavy-lift capability.”

Spirit AeroSystems Defense programmes senior vice-president Krisstie Kondrotis said: “The Spirit team is proud to support the CH-53K King Stallion programme and is pleased to deliver the fifth SDTA fuselage unit to Sikorsky.

“This lightweight composite fuselage structure will support the Marine Corps requirement of much-needed additional heavy-lift capability.

“We look forward to being a major contributor to this programme and delivering on our commitments for many years to come.”

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Major assembly works on the fuselage for the sixth and final SDTA helicopter are currently being conducted by Spirit AeroSystems.

Spirit AeroSystems Military Programmes director Jeff Jessop said: “Now, as we head into production of the final SDTA unit, we can focus on continuous deliveries to our customer and getting this much-needed capability into the hands of the warfighters as quickly as possible.”

The company is responsible for the development of the composite cockpit and cabin structure with a separately attached tail section.

The lightweight structure is expected to help enhance the capability of the CH-53K aircraft to carry out unrefuelled missions, while carrying a load of 27,000lb over a distance of 110 nautical miles (nm) in high / hot conditions, which is triple the load-carrying capacity of the current CH-53E Super Stallion.