A run of 200 CH-53Ks will generate more revenue than the Black Hawk...

via Rotor and Wing.

Sikorsky is about to become disrupted by its own product. Andreas Bernhard, chief engineer on the Sikorsky CH-53K, said during American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ (AIAA) SciTech Forum in Kissimmee, Florida, that in the 2020s, the Black Hawk would no longer be the manufacturer’s main product.

“Since 1974, Sikorsky has been a Black Hawk company,” Bernhard said. “In the 2020s, Sikorsky will generate more revenue with the CH-53K than it will with the Black Hawk. And hand-in-hand with that, we’re delivering a capability to our primary customer, the United States Marines, that is truly transformative and disruptive.”

Story here. 

Just plain wow.  The title of the article was that the CH-53K would be disruptive to its own manufacturer.

I was intrigued.

Then I got pissed.

I wonder if this bubba realizes the implications of his words.  The CH-53K is guaranteed to be 200 and probably less than 300 airplanes.  More modern models of the Black Hawk will be bought when the CH-53K goes into production yet the small run will generate more revenue than the Black Hawk?

Many are excited by Neller and love the idea that he took a punch at the F-35 by saying that he could equip every Marine with gucci gear for the price of one of those airplanes.

But that's not even half the story.

The Marine Corps is spending an UNGODLY portion of its budget on aviation. We don't have one airplane that costs 100 million dollars each.  We have 2.  The F-35 and the CH-53K.  We don't have one airplane that costs more than 75 million dollars each.  We have 2.  MV-22B and KC-130. As things stand the only affordable aircraft we operate is the AH-1Z and UH-1Y....and if the former Deputy Commandant for Aviation had his way the AH-1Z would be retired early in favor of a tilt wing unmanned monstrosity that can do close air support, escort, radar picket etc....who knows how much that will cost.

You want to impress?

Get the Marine Corps house in order.  As things stand Marines aren't benefiting, the taxpayer is getting hosed, the only people jumping for joy are the stockholders in these companies.