[Vhfcn-l] Fwd: FW: (ai) Future U.S. Marines Will Fly This Beast into Battle

[MoeElmore at aol.com]

FYI
 
 

Sent: 9/7/2017 10:30:15 A.M. Mountain Daylight Time
Subj:  FW: (ai) Future U.S. Marines Will Fly This Beast into Battle

>NationalInterest.org  <http://nationalinterest.org/>
>September 7,  2017
>
>Future U.S. Marines Will Fly This Beast into  Battle
>
>Kris Osborn
>
>
>
>³Future  Marines, not even born yet, will be flying this helicopter well
>into  the future,² U.S. Marine Corps. Col. Hank Vanderborght, Naval  Air
>Systems Command program manager for Heavy Lift Helicopters program  said
>in service statement.
>CH-53 helicopters, currently  operating from Navy amphibious assault
>ships, are central to maritime  and land assault, re-supply, cargo and
>other kinds of heavy-lift  missions.
>The new "K" model CH-53 helicopter is engineered to lift  27,000 pounds,
>travel 110 nautical miles, before staying 30 minutes on  station and then
>be able to return under high hot conditions.  The  existing ³E² model
>CH-53 can only carry 9,000 pounds.
>³This  contract will benefit our Marine Corps¹ Œheavy lifters¹ for decades
>to  come. Future Marines, not even born yet, will be flying this
>helicopter  well into the future,² U.S. Marine Corps. Col. Hank
>Vanderborght, Naval  Air Systems Command program manager for Heavy Lift
>Helicopters program  said in service statement.
>The idea with the helicopter is to engineer  a new aircraft with much
>greater performance compared to the existing  CH-53 E or ³Echo² model
>aircraft designed in the 80¹s.
>Higher  temperatures and higher altitudes create a circumstance wherein
>the  decreased air-pressure makes it more difficult for helicopters to  fly
>and carry payloads. ³High-Hot² conditions are described as being  able to
>operate at more than 6,000 ft at temperatures greater than  90-degrees
>Fahrenheit.
>An on-board refueling system is  engineered into the helicopter to extend
>mission range in high-risk  areas too dangerous for a C-130 to operate,
>developers said.
>The  requirement for the ³K² model CH-53 emerged out of a Marine Corps
>study  which looked at the combat aviation elements of a Marine  Air-Ground
>Task Force, or MAGTF.
>Engineers with the ³K² program  are using a handful of new technologies to
>achieve greater lift, speed  and performance with the helicopter,
>including the integration of a  new, more powerful GE 38 turboshaft engine
>for the  aircraft.
>³Fuel consumption of the engine is 25-percent improved. On a  pure
>technology level it is about a 25-percent improvement in  fuel
>efficiency,² Dr. Michael Torok, Sikorsky¹s CH-53K program vice  president,
>told Scout Warrior in a previous interview.
>The  helicopter is also being built with lighter-weight composite
>materials  for the airframe and the rotorblades, materials able to equal
>or exceed  the performance of traditional metals at a much lighter weight,
>said  Torok.
>³Technology allowed us to design a largely all-composite  skinned
>airframe. There are some primary frames titanium and aluminum.  Beam
>structure and all the skins are all composite. Fourth  generation
>rotorblades are a combination of new airfoils, taper and a  modification
>of the tip deflection of the blade.  It is an  integrated cuff and the tip
>geometries are modified to get additional  performance,² Torok added.
>The helicopter will also be configured with  Directional Infrared
>Countermeasures, or DIRCM, a high-tech  laser-jammer designed to throw
>incoming missiles off course. DIRCM uses  sensor technology to identify
>and thwart fast-approaching enemy fire  such as shoulder-fired weapons.
>The CH-53 K uses a split-torque  transmission design that transfers
>high-power, high-speed engine output  to lower-speed, high-torque rotor
>drive in a weight efficient  manner.
>³With the split torque you take the high-speed inputs from the  engine and
>you divide it up into multiple pieces with multiple gear  sets that run in
>parallel,² Torok said.
>The K model will be a  ³fly by wire² capable helicopter and also use the
>latest in what¹s  called conditioned-based maintenance, a method wherein
>diagnostic  sensors are put in place to monitor systems on the aircraft in
>order to  better predict and avert points of mechanical failure.
>This article  originally  appeared
><http://scout.com/military/warrior/Article/Marine-Corps-Builds-New-High-Te
>ch-CH-53K-Heavy-Lift-Helicopter-2-107051079>  on Scout Warrior.
>Image: Department of Defense
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