Originally Posted by
George K Lee
From all the numbers it seems that the only advantage of the 53K is sheer payload and the ability to fold itself into a pretzel on demand. Everything else favors the 47.
Indeed, and that's underslung payload only. The internal payloads of both platforms are both pretty much the same, so unless you have a dedicated point-to-point outsized heavy-lift mission (such as the USMC does), it is hard to see the point of the CH-53K.