VIDEO: Marines Pleased With CH-53K Success During Sea Trials Aboard USS Wasp
By: Megan Eckstein
June 25, 2020 5:00 PM • Updated: June 25, 2020 10:32 PM
The Marine Corps wrapped up its first sea trials with the new CH-53K King Stallion, crossing off one of the last big items on the to-do list before the heavy lift helicopter program can turn the aircraft over to the fleet for operational tests and a 2023 first deployment.
The 53K operated from USS Wasp (LHD-1) at sea from June 8 to 21, conducting more than 360 landings and takeoffs during that time in all kinds of wind conditions to prove that the helicopter was able to operate from a ship on deployment.
Col. Jack Perrin, the H-53 heavy lift helicopters program manager for Naval Air Systems Command, told USNI News in a June 24 interview that the sea trials were meant to test all the ways the helicopter interfaces with a ship: communications while in flight, the ability to land on all nine spots on the flight deck in all weather and lighting conditions, the ability to be towed around the flight deck and hangar bay, the ability to be folded up and tied down, the ability to be maintained at sea and more.
https://news.usni.org/2020/06/25/video-marines-pleased-with-ch-53k-success-during-sea-trials-aboard-uss-wasp
