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at [email protected]http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #364 JULY 2018 // 7
First King Stallion delivered
to US Marine Corps
SIKORSKY HAS begun
deliveries of the CH-53K to
the US Marine Corps. The
System Demonstration Test
Article (SDTA) helicopter
was flown from the
company’s West Palm
Beach, Florida, facility to
Marine Corps Air Station
New River in Jacksonville,
North Carolina, on May 16.
At the time of the initial
deliver y, 18 additional King
Stallions were in various
stages of production.
The first CH-53K
will be used for the
Supportability Te st Plan
at New River, under which
the USMC will conduct
a logistics assessment
on the maintenance,
sustainment and overall
aviation logistics support
of the King Stallion. Theassessment will also
validate maintenance
procedures.
Sikorsky expects to
deliver a second CH-53K
to the USMC early next
year. Initial operational
capability (IOC) is
planned for December
2019 and is defined as
having four aircraft that
can deploy with trained
crews and maintainers.
The current USMC
requirement is for 198
production aircraft according
to the President’s Budget
Request for Fiscal Year 2019- this excludes the four
Engineering Development
Model (EDM) and six SDTA
aircraft. The 2018 USMC
Aviation Plan calls for the
last Reserve unit to receive
it CH-53K in 2032.
Above: The fi rst Turkish F-35A took to the air on May 10, when 18-0001 (AT-01) made its fi rst fl ight from Fort Worth, Texas. Carl Richards
A US lawmaker has
called for a ban on sales
of the F-35A to Turkey.
Ankara is a full partner in
the Joint Strike Fighter
programme and plans
to buy 100 F-35As.
A US senate committee
passed its version of a
$716bn National DefenseAuthorization Act (NDAA)
policy bill on May 24 to
prohibit the sale or transfer
of F-35s to Turkey. The
ban would only be lifted
if the US President can
confirm that Turkey is
not degrading NATO
interoperability, exposing
NATO assets to hostileactors, or jeopardising
the general security of
NATO member countries.
The bill also seeks to
prevent Turkey from
acquiring defence
equipment from any
foreign country under US
sanctions. This is aimed
squarely at Turkey’s plannedpurchase of S-400 surface-
to-air missiles from Russia.
Ankara joined the JSF
programme during the
System Development and
Demonstration (SDD) phase
and a first F-35A was
expected to be delivered to
Turkey in November next
year, after the completionof initial pilot training at
Luke AFB, Arizona. The
country has also been
selected to overhaul F
engines for all European
Lightning II operators.
According to reports in the
Turkish media, the country’s
first F-35A is due to be
handed over on June 21.The fi nal UH-1Y for HMLA-469 arrives at Camp Pendleton. USMC/Lance Cpl Clare J McIntireLast UH-1Y handed
over to USMC
THE US Marine Corps
has taken delivery of its
final UH -1Y Venom. The
helicopter arrived at Marine
Corps Air Station Camp
Pendleton, California, on
April 25 to join Marine
Light Attack Helicopter
Squadron (HMLA) 469,
Marine Aircraft Group 49,
3rd Marine Air Wing.
The helicopter, serial
169291, was the last of 160
UH -1Ys to be delivered
to the US Marine Corps,
comprising 150 new-build
aircraft and ten converted
from UH -1N airframes.
HMLA-469 received its first
UH -1Y on January 16, 2 0 0 7.
Surprisingly, neither Bell
nor the USMC issued
a press release or even
made any mention of this
significant milestone,
which was later confirmed
to AFM by the USMC.
Although UH -1Y deliveries
are complete, with no
further orders planned,
deliveries of the type’s
sister aircraft, the AH -1Z
Viper, are set to continue
until 2022. Dave AllportTurkish Lightning II deliveries under threat
Above: In addition to the ten EDM and SDTA CH-53Ks, contracts have been placed for LRIP 1
(two aircraft), LRIP 2 (four aircraft) and long-lead items for LRIP 3 (eight aircraft). USMC