
Sikorsky Aircraft has conducted ground testing of the engines of the next variant of the heavy lift CH-53 helicopter for the Marine Corps, the company said Monday. The prototype CH-53K is designed to triple the external payload capacity to more than 27,000 pounds from the preceding CH-53E Super Stallion, said Sikorsky, a division of United Technologies [UTX]. The latest round of testing that took place in January involved firing up the engines without rotors attached to check the endurance of…