SH-3 Sea King

On March 11, the SH-3 Sea King, one of the most famous helicopters in the world, turned 65 years old. On that day in 1959, its prototype XHSS-2 made its first flight in Stratford, Connecticut, USA. The helicopter was developed by Sikorsky Aircraft, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation.

The machine was commissioned by the US Navy as an anti-submarine warfare helicopter-amphibian. Interestingly, at the beginning of its development in 1957, the founder of the company, Igor Sikorsky, a native of Kyiv, retired due to his age. However, he continued to assist the company's experts as a consultant.

Overall, over 1400 helicopters of this family were produced, with Sikorsky Aircraft manufacturing slightly more than half of them. Other helicopters were produced under license by the British company Westland Helicopters, Japanese Mitsubishi, and Italian Agusta. Additionally, in cooperation with Sikorsky and other American contractors, the Canadian company United Aircraft of Canada assembled Sea Kings.

There are known to be over 70 variants of the Sea King. Among them is the civilian non-amphibious S-61L, which could carry up to 30 passengers. However, the vast majority of the machines had military purposes. For example, the anti-submarine warfare helicopter SH-3D for the US Navy was equipped with two General Electric T58-GE-10 turboshaft engines, each with 1400 horsepower. It had a length of 16.7 meters, a rotor diameter of 18.9 meters, a maximum takeoff weight of 9,752 kilograms, a maximum speed of 267 kilometers per hour, and a range with maximum fuel reserves of over 1000 kilometers. In addition to anti-submarine equipment, it could carry up to 380 kilograms of armament, including two anti-submarine torpedoes and even a nuclear depth bomb.

The Sea King was considered a very reliable machine. VIP variants such as the VH-3A and VH-3D, better known as Marine One, were admitted to the HMX-1 squadron of the US Marine Corps as the official helicopters of the President of the United States.

In addition to the manufacturing countries, military and civilian variants of the Sea King were purchased by nearly 30 other countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Denmark, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Spain, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Germany, and Saudi Arabia. In November 2022, the United Kingdom announced that as part of military aid due to Russian aggression, it would transfer three Sea King HU.5 helicopters, which had previously served in the Royal Navy, to Ukraine. The last of them was delivered in May 2023. Media reported that in January 2024, Germany agreed to send another 6 Sea Kings to Ukraine.