WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has awarded Sikorsky a multi-year contract valued up to $10.8 billion to build a maximum of 99 CH-53K King Stallion helicopters for the Marine Corps and international partners, the first multi-year contract of its kind for the program of record.
In all, the Pentagon is currently planning to buy 200 CH-53Ks, meaning the new multi-year deal represents roughly half of the entire program. The five-year deal is estimated to provide $1.5 billion in savings from 2025 to 2029, according to a statement from Naval Air Systems Command on Friday.
“This multi-year procurement is key to mitigating program costs,” said Col. Kate Fleeger, program manager for the CH-53K. “The contract allows Sikorsky to take advantage of a long-term, stable demand signal and bundle purchase orders from suppliers to achieve better pricing. That savings is then passed on to the government.”
The CH-53K is the Marine Corps’ heavy lift helicopter slated to replace its legacy CH-53E Super Stallions. The newer aircraft is capable of lifting three times the weight of its predecessor and is designed to move troops, supplies and heavy equipment across the battlefield.
“This award reflects trust and confidence in Sikorsky to deliver these technologically advanced, heavy-lift helicopters that will revolutionize the Marine Corps’ operational capabilities by adding unrivaled power, performance, survivability and dependability to the fleet,” said Rich Benton, Sikorsky vice president and general manager. “The multi-year contract enables Sikorsky to partner with the Department of the Navy to drive long-term affordability, optimize production efficiencies and stabilize our supply chain and workforce, ensuring the Marines maintain the strategic advantage with the CH-53K in a rapidly evolving battlespace.”
To date, Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin subsidiary, has delivered 20 helicopters to the Marine Corps with an additional 63 aircraft in various states of production. The King Stallion’s first Marine Expeditionary Unit deployment is scheduled for fiscal 2027, according to NAVAIR.
Additionally, Sikorsky is under contract to deliver 12 CH-53Ks to Israel.
Meeting Zero Trust goals while maintaining information dominance
Balancing security and access to data are critical to providing users with trustworthy, reliable data for real-time decisions.
“The contract combines five separate aircraft orders — defined as Lots 9-13 — into a five-year multi-year procurement, ensuring price predictability and consistent flow of materials from 267 CH-53K suppliers across 37 states, and 17 suppliers from eight countries,” according to Sikorsky. “The contract allows the U.S. Government to buy up to 99 CH-53K aircraft for the Marine Corps or to fulfill orders from international military customers.”