Lockheed’s $31 Billion Helicopter Slipping Behind Schedule, Pentagon Says
- King Stallion risks running eight months late on key deadline
- ‘Program is maturing rapidly,’ contractor’s spokeswoman says
The Navy plans to buy 200 of the copters known as the King Stallion.
Photographer: Wilfredo Lee/AP Photos
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Lockheed Martin Corp.’s new $31 billion helicopter for the Marine Corps may be falling behind schedule and could miss its target for initial combat capability by as much as eight months, Pentagon analysts say.
Defense Department officials are tracking more than 1,000 current or projected “mission-impacting technical issues” that present “a high risk” to the CH-53K helicopter meeting its December 2019 goal, according to a program review document.