BEST Heavy Lift Helicopters in The World - Most Advanced Heavy Lift Helicopters in 2023

3 Best Heavy-Lift Helicopters CH-47 Chinook The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem rotor helicopter developed by American rotorcraft company Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol. The Chinook is a heavy-lift helicopter that is among the heaviest lifting western helicopters. Its name, Chinook, is from the Native American Chinook people of Oregon and Washington State. Capable of a top speed of 170 knots, 200 miles per hour, 310 kilometers per hour, upon its introduction to service in 1962, the helicopter was considerably faster than contemporary 1960s utility helicopters and attack helicopters and is still one of the fastest helicopters in the US inventory. It remains one of the few aircraft to be developed during the early 1960s, along with the fixed-wing Lockheed C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft that has remained in both production and frontline service for over 50 years. CH-53K King Stallion The Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion is a heavy-lift cargo helicopter designed and produced by Sikorsky Aircraft. The King Stallion is an evolution of the long-running CH-53 series of helicopters which have been in continuous service since 1966 and features three uprated 7,500-shop, 5,590-kilowatts engines, new composite rotor blades, and a wider aircraft cabin than its predecessors. It is the largest and heaviest helicopter in the US military. The United States Marine Corps plans to receive 200 helicopters at a total cost of $25 billion. Ground-test vehicle testing started in April 2014. Flight testing began with the maiden flight on October 27, 2015. In May 2018, the first CH-53K was delivered to the Marine Corps. On April 22, 2022, it was declared to have passed initial operational capability. Israel has also reportedly ordered the type, other potential export customers include Japan and Germany. Mi-26 The biggest and mightiest helicopter. It outperforms any existing heavy transport helicopter in terms of weightlifting capability and range of cargoes delivered. Mi-26 heavy-lift helicopter is designed to provide airlifting of self-propelled machinery and non-self-propelled machinery, bulky cargoes weighing up to 20 tons both in the cargo cabin and on external sling. Mi-26 provides delivery of servicemen, cargoes and fuel to hard-to-reach areas with the capability of landing on unprepared helicopter pads.