I enjoyed Sikorsky's recent cheeky claim that the CH-53K "
...will be fielded to the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) as a fully-operational aircraft in 2019" (IOC is planned for December 2019, with FOC following in 2029), but it now looks like even the IOC date will slip into 2020:
Lockheed’s $31 billion helicopter slipping behind schedule, Pentagon says.
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.
I/C