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First engine isolation hardware shipped for CH-35

This milestone is part of LORD Corporation’s System Design & Development (SDD) contracts for this aircraft with Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. The first contract, awarded in August 2009, was for the design, manufacture and qualification of elastomeric bearings for use in the main and tail rotor systems for this aircraft.  In February 2010, LORD was awarded a contract to design, manufacture and qualify unique torque controlling, engine isolation systems. These torque controlling systems apply LORD technologies to isolate the vibration from three General Electric (GE) engines and two nose-gearboxes that power the rotor system.

According to Daniel Zameroski, LORD staff engineer, aerospace engineering/product development, LORD was selected based on eight decades of experience in motion and vibration control solutions for the aerospace industry, as well as previous experience with similar aircraft, including earlier models of this aircraft (CH-53D SEA STALLION and CH-53E SUPER STALLION™).

“LORD was chosen for this program because we offer technologically advanced passive isolation systems that significantly outperform traditional, purely elastomeric, isolation systems,” said Zameroski.  “Use of this technology will result in decreased fatigue on the engines and increased service life and reliability.”

“These highly competitive awards are for one of the few remaining new aircraft programs for the defense industry,” said Houston E. Outing, LORD Corporation, manager, rotary wing markets & government relations. “LORD Corporation’s selection for these contracts is a testament to the reliable solutions we are committed to delivering to the war fighters. Further, this elastomeric bearing package significantly reduces direct operating costs (DOC) as compared to the current aircraft cost by deploying innovative LORD design processes and patented technologies.”

Currently under development by Sikorsky Aircraft for the United States Marine Corps, the Sikorsky CH-53K helicopter will be the largest and heaviest helicopter to be used by the United States military to date. It will be equipped with three 7,500 shaft horsepower engines, new composite rotor blades, and a larger cabin. The main improvements of the CH-53K helicopter over its predecessors are improved performance, less maintenance and lower direct operating cost all achieved within the same shipboard footprint.