The Digital Revolution in Military Aircraft Sustainment: Lessons from the CH-53K

06/20/2025
By Robbin Laird

The introduction of the CH-53K King Stallion helicopter represents a significant shift in how the military approaches aircraft sustainment and logistics. Unlike previous aircraft that were introduced during the land wars era, the CH-53K enters service in the context of “great power competition” and distributed operations, bringing with it digital capabilities that could transform military sustainment practices.

A New Strategic Context

The CH-53K arrives at a crucial juncture marked by three significant developments:

  • More than a decade of digital maintenance experience within the military
  • Supply chain vulnerabilities exposed by both the pandemic and the Ukrainian conflict
  • The U.S. military’s strategic shift toward distributed operations, which presents unique logistical challenges

These concurrent developments create both challenges and opportunities for leveraging the CH-53K’s digital backbone to revolutionize military sustainment practices.

Digital Maintenance and Fleet Management

The CH-53K’s digital architecture enables advanced fleet management capabilities similar to those Sikorsky has implemented with its commercial S-92 helicopter fleet. This system allows for tracking individual aircraft components and predicting maintenance needs based on data-driven analysis rather than fixed schedules.

Pierre Garant, a former Marine now working at Sikorsky on the CH-53K program, emphasizes that successful implementation requires more than just technology: “It is as much about process as about technology. It is about sharing data in a collaborative workspace to achieve the common objective to have higher readiness rates at less cost.”

Meeting Combatant Commanders’ Needs

Regional combatant commanders require certainty about which systems will be available for operations and when. The CH-53K’s predictive maintenance capabilities directly address this need by enabling more accurate forecasting of aircraft readiness.

Sikorsky has experience in developing regionally specific maintenance data for its S-92 fleet and plans to implement similar capabilities for the CH-53K. This allows for tailored sustainment approaches based on the specific operational environments where the aircraft will be deployed.

Performance-Based Logistics for the New Era

Performance-based logistics (PBL) has been the standard approach for military sustainment, but traditional implementations have focused primarily on peacetime operations. As Garant notes, the PBL model needs to evolve: “The purpose of a PBL is to incentivize long-term production of the supplies for the aircraft.”

However, in an era of great power competition, the sustainment model must incorporate surge capabilities to support higher operational tempos during conflicts. The CH-53K’s digital systems can help reshape PBL approaches by providing the data needed to anticipate and prepare for these surge requirements.

From Digital Twin to Tactical Edge

The CH-53K was designed using digital twin technology, which continues to support its evolution as operational data flows back to inform the digital model. This creates a foundation for transforming sustainment by:

  • Enabling predictive maintenance that anticipates parts needs before failures occur
  • Supporting more precise positioning of parts and supplies closer to operational areas
  • Facilitating the use of advanced manufacturing techniques like 3D printing at forward locations

As Garant explains, “We need to go beyond how the digital twin and the digital process allows us to build the aircraft differently to how we can recraft the sustainment enterprise to support the warfighter and their needs at the tactical edge.”

When examining the Marine Corps Aviation plan sustainment goals, you find three key objectives:

  • Demand-based sustainment: A bottom-up approach that responds to squadron, group, and wing needs.
  • Distributed operational effectiveness: Pursuing sustainment solutions that enable effective distributed aviation operations.
  • Optimizing sustainment efforts: Reducing variability in aircraft and equipment readiness.

When one compares these objectives to what is on offer from a CH-53K-enabled sustainment approach, I would conclude that the CH-53K helicopter represents a significant evolution in aircraft sustainment through its digital architecture:

  • Digital backbone and predictive maintenance: The CH-53K utilizes a digital backbone that enables predictive maintenance through data collection and analysis. This allows maintenance teams to anticipate component failures before they occur rather than following fixed maintenance schedules.
  • Support for distributed operations: The CH-53K’s design specifically addresses the strategic shift to distributed maritime operations. Its digital systems enable effective sustainment in dispersed operating environments, directly supporting the Marine Corps’ goal of distributed operational effectiveness.
  • Data-driven fleet management: The CH-53K approach includes collaborative data sharing between industry (Sikorsky) and military users to predict component behavior and position parts and resources where needed before problems arise.
  • Performance-based logistics (PBL): The sustainment model includes partnerships between government and contractors with incentives for delivering optimal supply chain support, though this model is being challenged to evolve from peacetime to surge capability.
  • Advanced manufacturing integration: The CH-53K sustainment approach is beginning to incorporate 3D printing capabilities at forward operating locations, potentially revolutionizing how parts are delivered to the tactical edge.

The CH-53K approach represents a significant advancement that aligns with but extends beyond the basic Marine Corps Aviation Plan goals, leveraging digital technologies to transform the entire sustainment enterprise from production through tactical edge support.

In other words, the CH-53K represents more than just a new helicopter; it embodies an opportunity to fundamentally reimagine military sustainment practices. By leveraging its digital capabilities in combination with organizational and process changes, the CH-53K could enable a sustainment enterprise that is more responsive to warfighter needs, more resilient to supply chain disruptions, and better able to support distributed operations.

As military operations continue to evolve, the ability to maintain high readiness rates at the tactical edge will become increasingly crucial. The CH-53K’s digital backbone provides the technological foundation for meeting this challenge, but realizing its full potential will require rethinking traditional approaches to military logistics and sustainment.

Featured image: A U.S. Marine Corps CH-53K King Stallion helicopter assigned to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 461, Marine Aircraft Group 29, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, departs for an air assault during Marine Air-Ground Task Force Distributed Maneuver Exercise 1-25 at Camp Willson, Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, Feb. 11, 2025. MDMX prepares Marines for future conflicts by combining constructed virtual training with offensive and defensive live-fire and maneuver training scenarios. Service Level Training Exercise 1-25 is designed to enhance readiness across core Mission Essential Tasks and prepares the MAGTF to execute distributed operations across vast, diverse environments by emphasizing decentralized command and control. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Armando Elizalde)

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