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Number 2. CH-53 SUPER STALLION is the most common name for the Sikorsky S-65 family of heavy-lift transport helicopters. Originally developed for use by the United States Marine Corps, it is also in service with Germany, Iran, Israel, and Mexico. The United States Air Force operated the HH-53 “Super Jolly Green Giant” during the late- and post-Vietnam War era, updating most of them as the MH-53 Pave Low. The dimensionally-similar CH-53E Super Stallion is a heavier-lifting, improved version designated S-80E by Sikorsky. Its third engine makes it more powerful than the Sea Stallion, which it has replaced in the heavy-lift mission.Two CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters assigned to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463 take off after delivering Marines and Canadian soldiers as part of a noncombatant evacuation operation during Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2012 at Marine Corps Training Area Bellows, Hawaii, July 26, 2012. From June 29 to August 3, more than 25,000 military personnel from 22 nations, 200 aircraft and 40 ships and submarines are participating in RIMPAC. The world's largest international maritime exercise, the 23rd in the series that began in 1971, is held biennially in and around the Hawaiian Islands. The exercise fosters training, interoperability and improved relations between countries providing security in sea lanes and oceans around the world. (Photo by Cpl. Reece Lodder/Marine Corps Base Hawaii)
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