For decades, the CH-53E Super Stallion served as the U.S. Marine Corps’ primary heavy-lift helicopter without growing much larger than the variants it replaced. While the Soviet Union built increasingly larger helicopters, including the enormous Mil Mi-26, the biggest helicopter in the world, the Marines took a different approach, evolving the CH-53 to lift heavier loads while keeping its size within a critical constraint. Beginning with the CH-53A Sea Stallion in the 1960s, the CH-53 family evolved through the CH-53D and eventually the three-engined CH-53E Super Stallion. Nearly four decades after the CH-53E entered service, the Marines continued the same lineage with the CH-53K King Stallion, a significantly more powerful helicopter that still maintains roughly the same footprint. In this Airspeed video, we break down the engineering of the CH-53E Super Stallion and explain the critical constraint that prevented the U.S. Marines from simply building a bigger helicopter. This video was created entirely by humans. Chapters 00:00 – 00:56 — America Chose a Smaller Helicopter 00:56 – 02:16 — The Heavy-Lift Problem 02:16 – 05:28 — Inside the CH-53E Super Stallion 05:28 – 08:16 — The Mi-26 vs. the CH-53 08:16 – 10:00 — Why the CH-53 Wasn’t Bigger
Source: Why America Never Built a Bigger Military Helicopter
