NAVAIR awards two King Stallion contract modifications
CH-53K King Stallion after a test flight. (Photo: USMC/Lance Cpl Molly Hampton)
With IOT&E completion due this month, NAVAIR has modified contracts for CH-53K Lot 6 LRIP and procurement of long-lead items for Lot 7 LRIP.
Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sikorsky has received two new contract modifications from Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) for the CH-53K King Stallion helicopter.
One modification — worth $684.95 million and scheduled for completion by July 2025 — exercises options for the LRIP and delivery of nine CH-53Ks, ‘as well as associated aircraft programmatic and logistical support’, the DoD announced on 31 January.
The other modification is worth $101.88 million for the procurement by December 2022 of long-lead items for full-rate Lot 7 production of the aircraft.
Sikorsky and the USMC hope for a decision on CH-53K full-rate production in Q2 2023, followed by a first operational deployment in 2024 and full operational capability by the end of the decade.
The Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) phase of the King Stallion programme began in July 2021 and is scheduled for completion in February 2022, according to the latest annual report from the Director Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E).
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