Sea Dragon’s fate still in doubt

[Rockville]

No exact replacement for heavy-lift helo

Whether to keep or retire the MH-53E Sea Dragon heavy lift helicopter is among the last unresolved questions in the Navy’s vision for its future rotary-wing fleet.
The MH-53E — which helps hunt for mines and haul the heaviest sling loads — is the subject of a high-level review that has been underway for nearly two years. The review will be completed later this year, said Lt. Cmdr. Victor Chen, spokesman for Navy research, development and acquisition.
The review is occurring as the Navy “necks down” most of its helicopter fleet to two models, the MH-60S and MH-60R Seahawks.
But neither of those helicopters is as big and powerful as the MH-53, which can lift up to three times more than Seahawks.
“The big question mark is the heavy lift and whether or not the [MH-60] Sierra is going to be able to do what the 53 did,” said Bob Work, a retired Marine colonel and naval expert with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington.
The Navy has two squadrons totaling 31 Sea Dragons and expects to keep some in service until 2017. On average, they have flown about 5,000 hours with an expected life span of 9,600 hours, said Stephanie Vendrasco, a spokeswoman for helicopter programs at Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, Md.
The MH-53 may lose its mine-hunting mission when the Navy transfers that task to the MH-60S by 2011, said Capt. Thomas Criger, a staff officer with Naval Air Forces who has helped oversee the helicopter transition.
But those new systems for tracking and destroying mines remain untested, Work said.
And even if they are successful, the Navy may want or need to retain heavy lift capability, which is vital for large-scale logistical missions such as humanitarian relief.
For example, after Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast in 2005 and the massive tsunami in southeast Asia in 2004, the Sea Dragon played a critical role in delivering supply loads too big for other helicopters to carry to places too remote for fixed-wing aircraft to land.
Several officers said privately that options for keeping a heavy lift capability past 2017 include extending the life of the existing MH-53, which would be very costly.
They also said the Navy could also purchase a newer version, the MH-53K, which the Marine Corps has agreed to buy and expects to make operational by 2015. The Corps’ move to develop a new Sea Dragon gives the Navy added flexibility.
“If they find out they do need a heavy lift capacity, with the 53K in development, [the Navy has] a fallback plan,” Work said.
Some aviation officers oppose the idea of retiring the MH-53 without a replacement. Last year, Lt. Cmdr. Scott Samo at the Air Command and Staff College wrote a paper outlining concerns about the move.
“There is a very real concern in the Navy test and operational communities that the MH-60S will not provide the necessary capabilities to replace the MH-53E. The elimination of the MH-53E in favor of the MH-60S will result in the loss of specific capabilities,” Samo wrote in April 2008.
“At a minimum, the Navy needs to re-evaluate its current [concept of operations] and explore the need for a more capable helicopter force, one that includes a true [anti-mine countermeasure]/heavy lift helicopter.”

Navy Times, Posted : Sunday Feb 1, 2009 9:05:13 EST