The Marine Corps' Most Expensive Helicopter Ever (More Than an F-35) Is In Trouble

Task and Purpose, Jared Keller

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For example: A January 2018 report from the Pentagon's Operational Test & Evaluation office detailed numerous structural problems in the airframe, problems exacerbated by a lack of needed parts.

The Pentagon believes that the Marine Corps' new CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopter — which at, $144 million apiece, costs more than the notoriously expensive F-35A Lightning II joint strike fighter, is "the most powerful helicopter the United States has ever fielded." 

Unfortunately, the pricey helo may not see action downrange anytime soon due to a growing list of worrying technical problems.

The King Stallion, which first landed in the hands of Marines back in May 2018, may not achieve initial operational capability (IOC) as soon as Navy officials originally expected, officials told Vertical Magazine in a Jan. 10 interview first noticed by our friends at The War Zone.

"Discovery of technical issues later than expected and [the] inadequate rate of their closure resulted in a flight test efficiency rate that was less than projected," Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) spokesman Greg Kuntz told the magazine in a statement "We are evaluating requirements to the program but have not yet made a formal determination on IOC [initial operational capability] or IOT&E [initial operational test and evaluation] dates."

While the CH-53K program has racked up an eye-popping $31 billion price tag since the start of development in 2006, the persistence of technical flaws revealed in operational testing are concerning to say the least.