The CH-53K and Its Potential Impact on the Sustainment Enterprise

The arrival of the CH-53K is coming after more than a decade of digital maintenance experiences for the military. It is also coming after the supply chain shortfalls evidenced by the pandemic and the Western effort to supply the Ukrainian forces.

And finally, it is coming when the U.S. military is working a strategic shift to distributed operations with all of the challenges associated with doing so logistically.

This confluence of developments is the context within which the CH-53K is coming into the force.

I talked in September and October 2023 with Pierre Garant, a former Marine, and now at Sikorsky about how he saw this challenge and opportunity. We focused on how leveraging a digital aircraft could profoundly change the sustainment enterprise.

This report includes the three interviews we did.

Featured image: U.S. Marines with Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One, conduct maintenance on a CH-53K King Stallion helicopter during Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) course 1-24 at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, Sept. 29, 2023. WTI is an advanced, graduate-level course for selected pilots and enlisted aircrew providing standardized advanced tactical training and assists in developing and employing aviation weapons and tactics. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Emily Hazelbaker).

And for the e-book version, see below:

Or to read our book concerning the coming of the CH-53K, see the following: