Korean Air extends USMC H-53 APAC maintenance contract

Korean Air extends USMC H-53 APAC maintenance contract

2-Dec-2020 Source: Korean Air

Korean Air recently won an order from the US Department of Defense for the maintenance of H-53E large helicopters deployed in Asia-Pacific for 9 years from December 2020 to May 2029. The total business size is around 150 billion won (approx US$136M, Ed)

The maintenance projects that Korean Air will perform include inspection, replacement and repair work, operation inspection, and test flight support of major structures and individual components of the H-53E large helicopter. In particular, due to the rotation and vibration of 7 large rotor blades and 4 tail rotor blades, and the peculiarity of the folding rear fuselage, a higher degree of difficulty is required than fixed wings such as A-10 and F-15 when adjusting the arrangement and repairing the fuselage.

H-53E heavy helicopters include the CH-53E Super Stallion, operated by the US Marines for troop and heavy cargo transport, and the MH-53E Sea Dragon, operated by the US Navy for long-range mine search and removal missions. The CH-53E Super Stallion is the largest and heaviest helicopter possessed by the U.S. Army, with three 4000 horsepower engines and a maximum takeoff weight of 33 tons, similar to the weight of an F-15 fighter.

Korean Air started the U.S. military depot maintenance business in 1978, and the depot maintenance of fighter and transport aircraft such as F-4, F-15, F-16, C-130 and A-10, and helicopters such as HH-60 and CH-53. The renovation business continues. In particular, the depot maintenance of 204 large H-53 helicopters has been performed since 1989.

Korean Air’s H-53E large helicopter depot maintenance project was an opportunity to further increase the reliability of Korean Air’s depot maintenance capabilities and specialized logistics support capabilities following the recent orders for the U.S. Air Force F-16 life extension and depot maintenance projects. . Based on this, Korean Air plans to continue to expand its military aircraft performance improvement and maintenance business.


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