Acting Navy Secretary tours Sikorsky, Electric Boat
The Acting Secretary of U.S. Navy Thomas Harker visited Sikorsky in Stratford on Wednesday to see the production of CH-53K King Stallion helicopters, which the aircraft company is manufacturing for Navy use. The tour followed a visit by Harker to General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and Naval Submarine Base in New London on Tuesday.
“Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas W. Harker traveled to New England to visit public and private organizations,” said Lt. Ashley Nekoui, spokeswoman for the Acting Navy Secretary. “During his visit to Sikorsky he viewed current operational efforts and met with personnel to discuss industrial base economic wellness and workforce health. During his trip, he also visited institutions in the region with long-standing contributions to the development of the maritime services, and the education and maturation of future naval leaders.”
Connecticut is a key manufacturer of helicopters and submarines for the U.S. Navy and other military branches.
Specifically, Sikorsky is the producer of the U.S. military’s largest helicopters. Owned by defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corporation, Sikorsky builds multiple models of helicopters used by the U.S. Navy for purposes like search and rescue, medical evacuations, anti-submarine warfare and minesweeping.
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, the top House Democrat in charge of federal spending, and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, joined Harker, Sikorsky President Paul Lemmo and Stephanie Hill, executive vice president of Rotary and Mission Systems for Lockheed Martin, for the visit, DeLauro said.
The group received a private tour of the factory floor to check out the manufacturing of the CH-53K King Stallion, a new helicopter model designed for heavy lifting, and the presidential helicopters. They also discussed the future aircraft Sikorsky will make, DeLauro said.
Blumenthal said after the visit he will be pushing for the Biden administration to increase military helicopter purchases.
“Helicopters are absolutely key to our national defense. They save lives on the battlefield. They force multiply the power of our troops in combat. They move troops and equipment to places where other vehicles simply cannot go,” Blumenthal said. “I’m going to be fighting for more Black Hawks, more CH-53Ks, the heavy lift, more of all of the aerial vehicles that it will be producing over these next years.”
In October 2020, the Navy signed a new contract with Sikorsky ordering six more helicopters — CH-53K King Stallions, huge helicopters designed for heavy lifting — for a total of 24 Sikorsky is manufacturing to support the U.S. Marine Corps.
The Pentagon plans on spending $25 billion to buy CH-53Ks. The Israeli Air Force is reportedly demanding an engine fix for the King Stallions it bought, claiming improvements are needed to fly the aircraft in desert brownout conditions.
Sikorsky has also supplied the U.S. Navy with more than 300 MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, made to fight against submarines and surface weapons. Other countries that have bought the aircraft from Sikorsky, or have pending orders, are Australia, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, India, Greece and Korea, a spokeswoman for Lockheed Martin said.
Sikorsky also has a contract with the U.S. government to build a total of 23 presidential helicopters. Employees in Stratford and Owego, N.Y. are working on producing thse aircraft, a spokeswoman for Lockheed Martin said.
Meanwhile, to the East, Electric Boat is currently producing two submarines a year for the U.S. military, with each vessel worth about $2.5 billion worth of business for the company.
The Biden administration has not yet proposed their first budget, including defense spending. The administration is still waiting for some top officials to be confirmed by the Senate and Biden has not yet nominated a new Secretary of the Navy. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have pressed Biden to nominate a Navy Secretary as soon as possible.
But the visits Tuesday and Wednesday show how Connecticut defense manufacturers are keeping the eyes of the Biden team trained on more investments in their products.
Blumenthal said the major challenge is ensuring these manufacturers have the work force to keep up with the orders. Employees at many defense contractors, including Sikorsky, are older and close to or at retirement age.
The contractors are juggling how to pass on this institutional knowledge while simultaneously hiring large numbers of skilled workers to carry out increased workload. Several training pipelines have been set up across the state, including at technical high schools and community colleges, to help these companies find and train the workers needed.
“This plant is going to lose 1000 or more trained, skilled employees over the coming years,” Blumenthal said. “The challenge for Sikorsky is skill training.”
emilie.munson@hearstdc.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson