Replacement of Sealed Nickel-Cadmium Batteries on Ch-53e and Mh-53e Aircraft with Sealed Lead-Acid Batteries

This paper will summarize the details of replacing the CH-53E and MH-53E crashworthy batteries to improve system reliability, safety of flight and to reduce battery maintenance and battery maintenance costs. A flight evaluation program is presently underway at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River, North Carolina to validate the proposed change from Sealed Nickel-Cadmium (SNC) batteries to Sealed Lead-Acid (SLA) batteries.

Under the sponsorship of the Commander, Naval Air Systems Command the Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center identified a SLA battery as a replacement for the SNC battery currently being used in the CH-53E and MH-53E aircraft. The replacement battery is a direct form, fit, and function replacement for the SNC battery. It is presently planned that the SLA battery will have a one-year inspection period and a replacement cycle of three years. Using those projections, labor costs associated with the maintenance of the SLA battery as compared to the SNC battery should be reduced by over 80 percent.