Aurora Selected by Sikorsky Aircraft to Provide CH-53K Main Rotor Pylon
(Clarksburg, W.Va., May 17) -- Aurora Flight Sciences announced today that it has been selected by Sikorsky Aircraft to design and manufacture a major subassembly of the latest-generation CH-53 heavy-lift military helicopter, the CH-53K. Sikorsky is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX).
This assembly, known as the Main Rotor Pylon (MRP), is one of six major fuselage sections and houses the CH-53K's Main Rotor Head, the No. 2 engine and other aircraft subsystems. Made primarily of composite material, the MRP will be fabricated by Aurora Flight Sciences of West Virginia, located in Clarksburg at the Harrison-Marion Regional Airport and shipped to Sikorsky for integration in the U.S. Marine Corps helicopter.
The three-engine CH-53K will be the world's premier heavy-lift helicopter. It is a derivative design leveraging the lessons learned from almost half a century of manufacturing and operating the earlier CH-53E SUPERSTALLION(TM) helicopter.
In April 2006, Sikorsky Aircraft was awarded a $3.0 billion System Development and Demonstration (SDD) contract for the CH-53K Heavy Lift Replacement Aircraft Program. The SDD contract could lead to the production of 156 CH-53K aircraft. The CH-53K's maximum gross weight will increase to 84,700 pounds versus 73,500 pounds for the CH-53E.
"Aurora Flight Sciences designs and builds lightweight composite aircraft structures for manned and unmanned aircraft. Our role in designing and building the Main Rotor Pylon for the CH-53K is a logical extension of our current work on programs such as the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial System (UAS)," said Aurora President John Langford.
Source : Aurora Flight Sciences
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