50 Years of German CH-53s
While we are familiar with the mighty CH-53 Sea Stallion and Super Stallion in USMC (and lesser USN RH/MH Sea Dragon and USAF HH/MH Jolly Green Giant) service since Vietnam, the German Bundeswehr has also been operating the type for a half-century.
Ordering 110 CH-53G (modified CH-53D) models in 1969– license produced by VFW-Fokker in West Germany– going past the Cold War, the type has been flown by the Germans in Albania, Bosnia, Iraq (including their first overseas deployment in German service, Desert Storm, where they flew 805 sorties), Kosovo, Congo, Mali, Lebanon, and Afghanistan, often to the delight of forward-deployed U.S. Marines who seemingly always need a lift.
The Germans deployed the CH-53 in Afghanistan for 18 years. Around 22,500 flight hours were flown and around five million kilometers were covered. One was lost in Kabul in 2002, resulting in the loss of 7 aboard. Bundeswehr/Sandra Elbern
They are also heavily involved in humanitarian missions. Two CH-53s were sent to Pakistan in 2005 to help with earthquake relief and the big Stallions have been a welcome sight in Europe during wildfire season, dropping 5,000L of water at a time in their “Smokey” configuration. In 2018, they were credited with stopping a fire from enveloping the town of Klausdorf.
Die CH-53 kann etwas über fünf Tonnen transportieren. Bei Waldbränden kommt der Löschbehälter „Smokey“ zum Einsatz. Bundeswehr/Jane Schmidt
Re-engined and updated with an IFR-capability, the remaining German 66 CH-53GS variants operated in three squadrons assigned to Hubschraubergeschwader 64, are set to continue in service until they are phased out in the next decade by 60 new CH-47F Block II Chinooks in an $8.5B deal announced last May. Until then, with a little help from old USMC CH-53Ds in the boneyards in Arizona, the German CH-53 will endure.