MH-53E Sea Dragon
Known as the Sea Dragon, the
MH-53E is based on the CH-53E
Super Stallion. It was designed
as a replacement for the Sikorsky
RH-53D and was primarily intended
for use in the airborne mine
countermeasures (AMCM) role.
For its primary role, the helicopter
uses a specialized mine-hunting
sonar in conjunction with
mechanical, acoustic and magnetic
minesweeping equipment to
detect and destroy a wide variety
of seaborne mines. The AMCM
equipment includes the Mk105
magnetic minesweeping sled, AN/
AQS-24A side-scan sonar and the
Mk103 mechanical minesweeping
system. In support of its secondary
roles the MH-53E provides the
navy’s only heavy-lift rotary-wing
capability that enables over-the-
horizon combat logistics support
including vertical replenishment
(VERTREP) and vertical on-board
delivery (VOD). Additionalmissions include tactical aircraft
recovery, humanitarian assistance,
disaster relief, and naval special
warfare support.
Sikorsky produced 50 MH-53Es
for the navy. Of them, 27 are now
in service with two operational
squadrons and the FRS. A fatigue life
extension program (FLEP) extended
the MH-53E’s service life to 10,000
hours and, under current plans, the
rotorcraft will remain in service until
2025 or beyond. A pair of MH-53Es
that had been in storage at Davis-
Monthan AFB, Arizona, since 2004
are being refurbished by Erickson
Inc in Medford, Oregon. Delivery
of the pair to HM-12 will occur
during FY 2018. The service also
acquired several S-80E airframes
that were operated by the Japan
Maritime Self Defense Force. The
navy’s requirements for this mission
beyond 2025 are under evaluation
but could be ful lled by a variant of
the CH-53K King Stallion.
Squadron Location Aircraft Command Tail code
HM-12 (FRS)
‘Sea Dragons’
Chambers Field,
NS Norfolk, Virginia MH-53E CHSCWL AN
HM-14 ‘Vanguard’ Chambers Field, NS Norfolk, Virginia MH-53E CHSCWL BJ
HM-14 Det 1 Pohang AB, Republic of Korea MH-53E CHSCWL BJ
HM-15 ‘Blackhawks’ Chambers Field, NS Norfolk, Virginia MH-53E CHSCWL TB
HM-15 Det 2 Bahrain IAP, Manama, Bahrain MH-53E CHSCWL TBA Training Air Wing Five TH-57B from NAS
Whiting Field. US Navy/ENS Antonio MoreTH-57B/C Sea Ranger/OH-58C Kiowa
The US Navy operates a eet of
41 TH-57B and 72 TH-57C Sea
Rangers that are tasked in the
primary and advanced training
roles in support of Naval Air
Training Command’s rotary-wing
pilot syllabus. Based on the Model
206A JetRanger, the TH-57A rst
entered service as a dual-control
primary training helicopter in- The later model 206B-3
provided the basis for the TH-57B
and TH-57C, which respectively
support basic helicopter and
instrument ight rules (IFR)
training. The helicopters are also
tasked in support of intermediate
tilt-rotor training for future US
Marine Corps MV-22B pilots.
In addition to the 113 trainers
that are assigned to TAW-5
at Whiting Field, Florida, two
TH-57Cs support testing duties
with HX-21 at NAS Patuxent
River, Maryland.
Plans to convert the TH-57B/C
eet to a single con guration
that featured a digital ‘glass’
cockpit was cancelled after two
aircraft were modi ed to TH-57D
con guration. Both TH-57Ds
were subsequently placed in
storage at Davis-Monthan AFB,
Arizona in mid-2013. The navy
formally began searching for a
new Advanced Helicopter Training
System (TH-XX) in January 2016.
In March 2018, the service
revealed plans to acquire a single-
engine commercial-o -the-shelf
helicopter. The release of a nal
request for proposals is expected
in February 2019 and purchase of
the rst 25 examples will follow in
FY 2020. Initial deliveries will begin
in early FY 2021 and the last Sea
Rangers will be divested at the end
of FY 2023. Several contractors
have expressed interest in the
program and potential Sea
Ranger replacements include the
Bell Model 407GXi, Leonardo’s
AW119 and the Airbus Helicopters
H135, which is in fact a twin-
engine aircraft.
NAS Patuxent River is also
home to four Bell OH-58C Kiowas
assigned to the US Naval Test
Pilot School at NAS Patuxent
River, Maryland, in support of its
rotary-wing curriculum. Although
the US Navy acquired several
TH-67As from the US Army in April
2016, plans to replace the Kiowas
with Creeks were subsequently
cancelled and the helicopters were
passed on to law enforcement
agencies. The army plans to
transfer custody of the OH-58Cs to
the navy some time in FY 2018.
Squadron Location Aircraft Command Tail code
HT-8 ‘Eight Ballers’ NAS Whiting Field, Florida TH-57B/C TAW- 5 E
HT-18 ‘Vigilant Eagles’ NAS Whiting Field, Florida TH-57B/C TAW- 5 E
HT-28 ‘Hellions’ NAS Whiting Field, Florida TH-57B/C TAW- 5 E
HX-21 ‘Blackjack’ NAS Patuxent River, Maryland TH-57C NAWCAD
USNTPS NAS Patuxent River, Maryland OH-58C NAWCADassume administrative control of
VFA-101, VFA-125 and VFA-147.
Full combat capability will be
added to the aircraft under the
Block 4 program, which is now
known as the continuous capability
development and delivery (C2D2)program. New weapons include
the 250lb (113kg) GBU-53 Small
Diameter Bomb Increment II
(SDB II) and the AGM-154C JSOW.
Development testing of the JSOW
is now complete and operational
testing will begin in late FY 2018.An MH-53E Sea Dragon on the strength of Helicopter
Countermeasures Squadron (HM) 15. US Navy/MCS3C Levingston LewisAn F-35C Lightning II from VFA-125 ‘Rough Raiders’ lands on the USS
Carl Vinson (CVN 70). US Navy/MCS2C Sean M. CastellanoUS NAVY & MARINE CORPS AIR POWER YEARBOOK 2018
US NAVY AIR POWER 2018^7766-85 US Navy Review C.indd 77 01/06/2018 10:11