Lockheed’s $34 Billion Heavy-Lift Copter Scores in Early Pentagon Tests

(Bloomberg) -- Lockheed Martin Corp.'s King Stallion helicopter performed well in initial combat testing needed to win approval for full-scale production later this year, according to the Pentagon's testing office, a major step forward for a $34 billion program that's been over budget and delayed.

The latest version of the heavy-lift copter, designated CH-53K, “thus far has demonstrated effectiveness, suitability, and survivability improvements” compared with its predecessor, the testing office said in its new annual report.

It has shown “improved handling qualities in adverse flying conditions, increased external load capability and improved maintainability as well as survivability against operationally relevant threats,” according to the non-public version of the assessment obtained by Bloomberg News. The final test results will be weighed in the Defense Department's decision on full production that's now scheduled for November, about seven years after the original goal.

Still, “low reliability of several major components will result in more frequent unplanned maintenance actions and increased parts demand, especially spare engines that have deteriorated in sand and dust,” according to the findings in the version of the report labeled “Controlled Unclassified Information.”

“Engine degradation due to sand ingestion limits aircraft operations in those conditions” but the Navy has “developed a procedure that will give flight crews the ability to assess the loss of engine performance in sand and dust,” the testing office found.

The nonpublic version also noted that the Marines lack a forklift capable of hoisting the 10,000-pound (4,500 kilogram) loads that the helicopter was designed to lift so Marine muscle has been used “to hand-carry sufficient cargo on and off the aircraft” during the testing, which will continue at least into March.

Megan Wasel, a spokeswoman for the Naval Air Systems Command, said the CH-53K program office “concurs with the report, and is continuing to make progress on remaining technical questions.” She said “the aircraft continues to execute within timeline, leading to Initial Operational Capability in 2022 and first fleet deployment in 2024.”

Lockheed spokesman John Dorrian said in a statement that all of the issues cited by the testing office are known to the contractor's Sikorsky unit “and have been been resolved or have an agreed-upon path to resolution.”