The structure is from the first F-35C carrier variant aircraft, CF-1, a former developmental flight test jet from the Patuxent River F-35 Integrated Test Force (ITF).
ITF test teams collaborated with Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron One (VMX-1) and a Marine helicopter support team with Combat Logistics Battalion (CLB) 24, Combat Logistics Regiment 2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group to conduct the lift.
The CLB-24 helicopter support team conducted operations to develop tactics, techniques, and procedures of CH-53K King Stallion utilization as the Marine Corps modernizes and prepares to respond globally to emerging crises or contingencies.
U.S. Navy photo by Kyra Helwick, F-35 Lightning II Pax River ITF.
The Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion training devices, developed concurrently with the CH-53K® helicopter, is enabling U.S. Marines successfully complete their missions.
The Containerized Flight Training Device, or CFTD, is a portable full-mission flight simulator that allows flight crews to train on the full scope of heavy lift missions.
The Marines are currently training with the CFTD at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
“There’s nothing we cannot program it to do that we would not find in real life,” Capt. Nick Moran, U.S. Marine Corps operational test pilot for the CH-53K King Stallion and CH-53E Super Stallion, said in 2020.
Marines with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 2d Marine Regiment, 2d Marine Division, executed an air assault operation in support of VMX-1 to test the capabilities of the CH-53K King Stallion, the U.S. Marine Corps’ newest heavylift helicopter.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Patrick King.
In a highly immersive virtual environment, the CFTD replicates the functionality, flight characteristics, mission profiles and unmatched capabilities of the aircraft. The device can also replicate various environmental conditions the aircraft is likely to fly in.
The Helicopter Emulation Maintenance Trainer, or HEMT, and the Composite Maintenance Trainer, or CMT, are purpose-built for maintenance training.
The HEMT is a computer-based lab that familiarizes the mechanic with maintenance tasks. By virtually depicting the inside and outside of the aircraft and providing feedback, maintainers learn many of the maintenance functions prior to working on the aircraft.
The CMT is a full-scale mock-up of the aircraft and is the final step in familiarizing the maintainer with the aircraft.
The CH-53K is folded up and sitting on the elevator of the USS Wasp (LHD-1) as part of the first sea trials for the heavy lift helicopter in June 2020.
U.S. Navy photo by Victoria Falcon, Naval Air Station Patuxent River.
The device allows students to interact with physical controls to learn to remove and install hardware and perform functional checks. An instructor operating system assigns tasks and monitors progress for focused feedback.
Training allows for the creation of an environment that is realistic to a real aircraft, with safety as a priority.
Sean Cattanach, senior program manager of the CH-53K King Stallion training system, said, “Because the trainer was developed alongside the aircraft itself, the flight trainer and the maintenance trainers are incredibly accurate to the real experience of working with the helicopter.”
The CH-53K, which can lift 36,000 pounds, is the most powerful heavy lift helicopter ever built in the United States. The King Stallion’s technologically advanced design will meet the future warfighting requirements for decades to come.
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