The House Armed Services Committee’s (HASC) draft of the fiscal year 2025 defense authorization bill gives the Navy authority for multiyear procurement for the Lockheed Martin Sikorsky [LMT] CH-53K King Stallion Helicopter and its
General Electric [GE] T408 engines.
This comes after the Navy sent Congress a legislative proposal request for it to be granted the authority to enter into a block buy contract for 36 more CH-53Ks over the next two years (Defense Daily, April 16).
In the proposal, the Defense Department said this block buy covering FY 2025-2026 would save 3.75 percent over single-year pricing, equating to $135 million in then-year dollars.
DoD also sought authority for multi-year procurement contracts on up to 350 T408 engines. The engine authority would lead to 10 percent cost savings too, equal to about $125.7 million in then-year dollars.
The Navy’s FY ‘25 budget request included 19 CH-53Ks for $2.5 billion as part of the full rate production Lot 9 set of aircraft.
The Navy plans the block buy contracts to cover Lots 9-10 over FY ’25-’26 for both aircraft and engines.
The FY ‘25 budget request documents note the Navy plans to buy another 18 CH-53Ks in FY ‘26 for $23 billion.
The Navy ultimately plans to buy a total of 200 CH-53K helicopters, including four system demonstration test articles, at a cost of $27 billion.