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Product Type: |
Medium-Lift Transport Helicopter |
Using Service (US): |
Marine Corps (USMC) |
Program Status: |
No more new aircraft will be procured. Focus is on modifications and sustainment. |
Prime Contractor: |
Airframe: The Boeing Company
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The Boeing CH-46/HH-46 Sea Knight is a medium-lift tandem rotor cargo helicopter used by the U.S. Marine Corps
to provide all-weather, day-or-night transport of combat troops, supplies and equipment.
The CH-46 was first purchased in 1964 to meet the medium-lift requirements of the Marine Corps in Vietnam.
The Sea Knight can carry up to 25 combat equipped troops.
The helicopter is powered by two General Electric
T58-GE-16A turboshaft engines with 1,870 shp each.
As of December 2011, the average age of Marine Corps Sea Knight heliopters is 43 years or 10,980 hours.
The original design service life was estimated at 10,000 hours, however, it was subsequently extended to 12,500 hours in 1992
and 15,000 hours in 1996. The fleet is gradually being retired from service and replaced
by the Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk aka Knighthawk.
The active inventory, as of December 2011, consists of 83 CH-46E Sea Knight and 4 HH-46E Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopters.
The CH-46 Sea Knight can be equipped with two XM218 .50 caliber BMG (12.7mm) machine guns and one ramp mounted M240G 7.62mm machine gun.
The CH-46E Sea Knight helicopter provides all-weather, day-or-night assault transport of combat troops, supplies and equipment. Troop assault is the primary function and the movement of supplies and equipment is secondary. Additional tasks may be assigned such as combat support, search and rescue, support for forward refueling and rearming points, aeromedical evacuation of casualties from the field and recovery of aircraft and personnel.
Funding is provided for the H-46 GASSP modification and the CH-46 avionics upgrade program. The CH-46E has multiple avionics systems that are in need of upgrade. These systems include the cockpit information displays, the onboard navigation and communication systems and their perspective controls, the instrument flight required situational awareness systems and their associated displays and the survivability systems controls and displays. Total DoD Spending in FY 2012 amounts to $24.6 million.
Provides targeted initiatives to remedy the top age-related safety and reliability issues engineered to address the heavy wear-and-tear effects of high-tempo Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) (400% of planned utilization rate) on CH-46 airframes and subsystems in order to ensure safe, reliable and effective aircraft operation until all CH-46 Sea Knights have been retired. Total DoD Spending in FY 2013 amounts to $2.3 million. For more information, click to see the Complete FY 2013 CH-46 Budget.
Source: U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), The Boeing Company,
and General Electric Co.
Last Update: July 16, 2012.
By Joakim Kasper Oestergaard (www.kostergaard.com)
Boeing's CH-46 Site: Boeing CH-46 Sea Knight
YouTube: Boeing CH-46 Sea Knight | YouTube Videos
Fact Sheet: Not Available
CH-46 U.S. Defense Budget Charts: |
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Primary Function: Assault support, cargo and search and rescue roles |
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