Navy awards contract for operational test CH-53K aircraft

Remember this story from early 2012?  via Flight Global.

The US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) is evaluating a proposal from Sikorsky to build four production-representative CH-53K Super Stallion heavy-lift helicopters, says the US Marine Corps' programme manager.
"We're looking at the proposal now," says Col Robert Pridgen.
NAVAIR received the proposal at the beginning of March, he says. A contract award is expected some time after this has been evaluated, although Pridgen says: "I don't want to nail down a date."
The four pre-production aircraft will be "fleet-representative" and be used for operational evaluations, as well to finish developmental testing.

Well this hit the airwaves a few days ago....via NAVAIR Press Release.

NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) awarded a $435 million cost-plus-incentive contract to Sikorsky to build four production-representative CH-53K heavy lift helicopters for the U.S. Marine Corps on May 30.
These four aircraft will be the System Demonstration Test Articles (SDTA) that the Marines will test during operational evaluation.
“The SDTA contract represents an exciting and significant milestone in our program,” said Col. Robert Pridgen, the Heavy Lift Helicopters program manager for NAVAIR. “We are well on our way to making the CH-53K a reality for our Marines and our naval fleet. The capability this aircraft brings, in every clime and place, is critical to sustaining the future missions of the Marine Air/Ground Task Force. The future of heavy lift is bright.”

Its hard to be enthused about this news when you realize that it was proposed over a year ago by Sikorsky in response to ANOTHER delay to the CH-53K program.

Its becoming a common rant on these blog pages but something is seriously wrong with Marine Corps procurement.

The simple is becoming hard and the hard impossible.  New leadership across the board is desperately needed.