Project 3069
$139.3MFY2027 request ▲ 3%CH-53K Improvement
FY2025 actual$52.2M
FY2026 enacted$135.4M
FY2027 request$139.3M
Product DevelopmentSupportTest and EvaluationManagement Services
FY2027 Request
$139.3M
▲ 2.8% vs FY2026
House approps mark
$111.4M
▼ $27.8M vs request
FY2026 Enacted
$135.4M
In law
Roll-up of 2 projects. Projects are the summable leaves — the PE total is their sum, never added to it.
For fiscal year 2027, the U.S. Navy is requesting $139.3M for CH-53K under RDT&E program element 0605212M, up 2.8% over FY2026. In the FY2027 defense authorization, House approps moved to cut it to $111.4M.
Funding trajectory
Funding profile, FY2025–FY2031
Prior years are actuals, the budget year is the request, and the outyears are the FYDP plan. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure.
Actual Enacted Request Outyear (FYDP) House approps mark
| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 71.4 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 135.4 |
| FY2027 | Request | 139.3 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 95.0 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 91.6 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 92.6 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 94.2 |
Where it sits
Acquisition lifecycle
This program is funded in RDT&E Budget Activity 5 — System Development & Demonstration.
Complete
Research
BA 1–2
Complete
Advanced Technology
BA 3
Complete
Prototyping
BA 4
Current
Development & Fielding
BA 5–7
Inside the program element
2 projects roll up into PE 0605212M
Projects are the summable leaves — the PE total is their sum, never added to it. Program elements and projects carry the full five-year plan; activities stop at the budget year. This PE moves 3% overall, which can hide much larger swings below.
Project 3059
$0.0MFY2027 request CH-53K Development
FY2025 actual$19.2M
FY2026 enacted$0.0M
FY2027 request$0.0M
Product DevelopmentSupportTest and EvaluationManagement Services
Congressional action
The request is contested
Committee marks on the FY2027 request. Adds and cuts are reconciled in conference before they become law.
RequestPresident's Budget
$139.3M
House NDAA (HASC)HASC
$139.3M full · +$0
Senate NDAA (SASC)SASC
$139.3M full · +$0
House Approps (HAC-D)HAC_D
$111.4M −$27.8M · −20%
▲ $27.8M chamber gap — unresolved as of 2026-07-27. These are FY2027 authorization marks (NDAA); appropriations and the conference agreement may differ.
Who's building it
Where the FY2027 request goes
Performers named in the R-3 exhibit, resolved into industry, government-lab, and unspecified shares. Budget-justification contract funding, not obligations.
NAWCAD
$45.5M · 33%
Sikorsky
$19.2M · 14%
| Where FY2027 funding flows | Share | $M |
|---|---|---|
| Industry primes | 51% | 70.9 |
| Government labs & warfare centers | 0.1% | 0.2 |
| Other / unspecified | 49% | 68.2 |
| FY2027 request | 100% | 139.3 |
Program detail
Mission & acquisition strategy
The CH-53K is an intelligent next generation fly by wire heavy-lift helicopter that provides significant improvements in range, payload, performance, cargo handling, turn-around times, reliability, maintainability, interoperability and survivability. It is the only marinized heavy-lift helicopter in the world and the Department of War's only heavy-lift helicopter. The CH-53K mission is to support the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Commander by providing assault support transport of heavy equipment, combat troops, and supplies, day or night under all weather conditions during expeditionary, joint, or combined operations.
On 30 March 2017, the DAB reviewed the CH-53K program for a MS C decision allowing entry into Production and the ADM was signed by USD AT&L on 4 April 2017 resulting in an ACAT 1C designation. Initial Operational Test & Evaluation (IOT&E) completed April 2022; Initial Operating Capability (IOC) achieved in May 2022; and Full Rate Production (FRP) approved in December 2022.
Project 3069, 3059 — CH-53K Improvement
- Product Development
- Support
- Test and Evaluation
- Management Services
Ask Hitch
Ask this program element
Answers are generated from the figures on this page — the FY2027 justification exhibits and the marks tracked above — and nothing else is consulted. Confirm any figure against the cited exhibit before you use it externally.
H
Questions this page can answer
How does the FY2027 request compare with FY2026, and what does the five-year plan show?What did House approps do to this request, and what is still unresolved?Which project inside PE 0605212M is growing fastest, and which is shrinking?How is the FY2027 request split between industry and government performers?
This page carries the budget justification and the NDAA marks — nothing else. For what NAWCAD has actually been obligated, the ledger is at hitchintel.com/vendors; for live solicitations, hitchintel.com/opportunities. Both are member surfaces.
Provenance
Cite this page
Sources
FY2027 Department of the Navy RDT&E Budget Justification · Exhibits R-2 / R-3 · PE 0605212M (President's Budget PB2027) — and FY2027 NDAA committee marks, as tracked 2026-07-27.
Suggested citation
HitchAI, "CH-53K (PE 0605212M)," federal budget intelligence, PB2027 vintage. hitchintel.com/programs/0605212M
Machine access
Markdown twin
/programs/0605212M.md · MCP mcp.hitchintel.com → budget_get_program_element, budget_get_cong_marksFY2027 Request
$139.3M
▲ 2.8% vs FY2026
FY2026 Enacted
$135.4M
▲ 159% vs FY2025
FY2025 Actual
$52.2M
Prior year
CH-53K Improvement — one RDT&E project inside PE 0605212M. Congressional marks are recorded on the program element, not on a project.
Project 3069 — CH-53K Improvement — requests $139.3M in FY2027, 100% of the $139.3M requested for program element 0605212M. Year over year it grows 2.8% against FY2026.
Funding trajectory
Project 3069 funding, FY2025–FY2031
Prior years are actuals, the budget year is the request, and the outyears are the FYDP plan. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure. Projects carry the full five-year plan; the activities inside them stop at the budget year.
Actual Enacted Request Outyear (FYDP)
| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 52.2 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 135.4 |
| FY2027 | Request | 139.3 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 95.0 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 91.6 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 92.6 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 94.2 |
Inside the project
2 accomplishments / planned programs
The R-2A exhibit. Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan — and they are descriptive: coverage is partial and they do not always add back to the project, so count them, never total them. Opening lines only here — the full year-by-year narrative is on the project page.
FY2025 actual$10.5M
FY2026 enacted$90.5M
FY2027 request$71.8M
Continue efforts to develop, test, and certify new capabilities, to include software development and mitigation of risk due to obsolescence of components to support fleet and production aircraft requirements. Specific activities planned in support of the Improvements program include: further air vehicle envelope expansion, increased…
Read the FY2027 plan →FY2025 actual$41.7M
FY2026 enacted$44.9M
FY2027 request$67.5M
Continue and maintain the establishment of the government Test and Evaluation team, and associated support functions, to facilitate follow-on capability expansion and development of new requirements. Efforts supported include pre-planned product improvements, reliability improvements, risk reduction software development, and testing…
Read the FY2027 plan →Who's building it
Named performers on project 3069
Performers named in the R-3 exhibit under this project. Share is of the project's whole FY2027 R-3 total — the same denominator the program-element split uses, so the two read on one scale and will not sum to 100% when unnamed or government work is in the mix. Budget-justification contract funding, not obligations.
NAWCAD
$45.5M · 33%
Sikorsky
$19.2M · 14%
GE
$3.8M · 2.7%
COMOPTEVFOR
$2.0M · 1.5%
Project detail
What project 3069 buys
CH-53K Improvement is required for the establishment of the Heavy Lift program's organic test and evaluation efforts, software development, follow-on capability enhancements, and modernization initiatives. These efforts are focused on advancing the program's technical maturity, validating system performance, and ensuring alignment with operational requirements. Improvements address pre-planned product improvement requirements written into the Capabilities Product Document approved by Joint Requirements Oversight Committee in February 2020. The CH-53K Improvement projects provide near and long-term improvements to the fleet, focusing on documented deficiencies related to mission systems, maintainability and reliability, and obsolescence issues.
R-3 lines of work
- Product Development
- Support
- Test and Evaluation
- Management Services
FY2027 Request
$0.0M
No FY2026 funding
FY2026 Enacted
$0.0M
▼ 100% vs FY2025
FY2025 Actual
$19.2M
Prior year
CH-53K Development — one RDT&E project inside PE 0605212M. Congressional marks are recorded on the program element, not on a project.
Project 3059 — CH-53K Development — requests $0.0M in FY2027, 0.0% of the $139.3M requested for program element 0605212M.
Funding trajectory
Project 3059 funding, FY2025–FY2031
Prior years are actuals, the budget year is the request, and the outyears are the FYDP plan. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure. Projects carry the full five-year plan; the activities inside them stop at the budget year.
Actual Enacted Request Outyear (FYDP)
| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 19.2 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 0.0 |
| FY2027 | Request | 0.0 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 0.0 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 0.0 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 0.0 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 0.0 |
Inside the project
3 accomplishments / planned programs
The R-2A exhibit. Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan — and they are descriptive: coverage is partial and they do not always add back to the project, so count them, never total them.
Air Vehicle Development
FY2025 actual$11.8M
FY2026 enacted$0.0M
FY2027 request$0.0M
FY2026 plans — current year Complete SDD closeout activities; conclude 3QFY26. Residual FY26 closeout activities funded via FY25 dollars.
Integrated Logistics Support and Test & Evaluation (T&E)
FY2025 actual$3.5M
FY2026 enacted$0.0M
FY2027 request$0.0M
FY2026 plans — current year Complete SDD closeout activities; conclude 3QFY26. Residual FY26 closeout activities funded via FY25 dollars.
Systems Engineering & Project Management
FY2025 actual$3.9M
FY2026 enacted$0.0M
FY2027 request$0.0M
FY2026 plans — current year Complete SDD closeout activities; conclude 3QFY26. Residual FY26 closeout activities funded via FY25 dollars.
Project detail
What project 3059 buys
The CH-53 is the only marinized heavy-lift helicopter in the world and is the Marine Corps only heavy-lift helicopter. The CH-53 mission is to conduct expeditionary heavy-lift assault transport of armored vehicles, equipment and personnel to support distributed operations deep inland from a sea-based center of operations. The CH-53E "Super Stallion" was introduced into operations in 1980 as an upgrade version of the CH-53D. The CH-53E has developed performance degradation, fatigue life, interoperability, maintenance supportability, and other operational concerns. An improved CH-53 is needed to support Marine Air-Ground Task Force heavy-lift requirements in the 21st century joint environment. The CH-53K "King Stallion" will provide improvements in range and payload, performance, cargo handling, turn-around times, reliability and maintainability, interoperability, and survivability. The CH-53K program is required to provide full system capability, including shipboard compatibilities, at Initial Operational Capability (IOC). Total aircraft quantities for the CH-53K program are 205 helicopters. This currently includes one Ground Test Vehicle (GTV) and four Engineering Development Models (EDMs) for System Development and Demonstration (SDD) purchased with Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) funds. Of the remaining 200 aircraft, four are System Demonstration Test Articles and 196 are funded with APN.
R-3 lines of work
- Product Development
- Support
- Test and Evaluation
- Management Services