The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee has included language in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act asking the U.S. Navy to submit a report on the “feasibility and impact of recapitalizing the MH–53E fleet with a derivative of CH-53K.”
“The Committee recognizes that the CH-53K helicopter currently being built for the Marine Corps would be a logical option that might replace the capability that would be lost with the retirement of the Navy’s MH-53E fleet,” the report says.