As the Marine Corps retires its Vietnam-era CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters — the last group of which was based in Hawaii — Kaneohe Bay is rebuilding some of its heavy-lift capability with newer CH-53E Super Stallions.
Other types of helicopters will begin arriving at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay this summer, including Huey utility copters and Cobra gunships, and are expected to be used in the Rim of the Pacific naval exercises this summer.
Seven of the big Super Stallions arrived Tuesday, flying in formation from the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard to be part of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463, known as "Pegasus." The Bonhomme Richard is heading to Japan from San Diego.
In September the Hawaii squadron received its first four CH-53Es. A 12th and final Super Stallion is expected to arrive at the end of this year.
The last of the Corps’ aging Sikorsky CH-53D Sea Stallions was ceremoniously retired Feb. 10 with one of the helicopters flying to the Pacific Aviation Museum-Pearl Harbor to become a museum piece.
The twin-engined helicopter first flew in 1964 and became operational in 1966, the Navy said. In the mid-1990s the Marine Corps consolidated all its remaining Sea Stallions at Kaneohe Bay.
In 2003 there were 40 of the transport choppers at the Marine Corps base. Last May there were 32. About 11 remain in use in Afghanistan, officials said.
Two of the aircraft were loaded onto a C-5 Galaxy cargo plane at Kaneohe Bay Tuesday for transport to Afghanistan to augment the Sea Stallions already there.
One operating Sea Stallion and six stripped hulks remain at the Marine Corps base, officials said. After being retired from Hawaii, the majority of the Sea Stallions will be transported to the boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.
According to the Marines, the replacement CH-53Es can transport up to 55 troops or 30,000 pounds of cargo and can carry external loads of up to 36,000 pounds. The Super Stallion has a cruise speed of 173 mph and a range of more than 600 miles.
The Marine Corps also is planning for the arrival of nine Huey and Cobra helicopters with the RIMPAC fleet this summer as the first installment of 15 AH-1 Cobras and 12 UH-1 Hueys at Kaneohe Bay.
HMH-363 — another Hawaii squadron — will return from Afghanistan this spring. The unit will be transferred to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar near San Diego, shift to the tilt-rotor MV-22 Osprey and return to Kaneohe Bay probably in the summer of 2015, officials said.
