page_title: Sikorsky MH-53
section_title: HH-53B
hierarchical_section_title: Sikorsky MH-53 / Design and development / HH-53B
caption_attribution_description: A U.S. Air Force Lockheed HC-130P Hercules refueling a Sikorsky HH-53B Super Jolly Green Giant helicopter of the 40th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron over North Vietnam, sometime between July 1969 and July 1970.
context_page_description: The Sikorsky MH-53 Pave Low series is a retired long-range special operations and combat search and rescue helicopter for the United States Air Force. The series was upgraded from the HH-53B/C, variants of the Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion. The HH-53 "Super Jolly Green Giant" was initially developed to replace the HH-3E "Jolly Green Giant". The U.S. Air Force's MH-53J/M fleet was retired in September 2008.
context_section_description: The US Air Force regarded their Sikorsky S-61R/HH-3E "Jolly Green Giant" long-range CSAR helicopters favorably and was interested in the more capable S-65/CH-53A. In 1966, the USAF awarded a contract to Sikorsky for development of a CSAR variant of the CH-53A.
  The HH-53B, as it was designated, featured:
  A retractable in-flight refueling probe on the right side of the nose
  Spindle-shaped jettisonable external tanks with a capacity of 650 US gallons (2,461 L), fitted to the sponsons and braced by struts attached to the fuselage
  A rescue hoist above the right passenger door, capable of deploying a forest penetrator on 250 feet (76 m) of steel cable
  Armament of three pintle-mounted General Electric GAU-2/A 7.62 mm (.308 in) six-barreled Gatling-type machine guns, with one in a forward hatch on each side of the fuselage and one mounted on the tail ramp, with the gunner secured with a harness
  A total of 1,200 pounds (540 kg) of armor
  A Doppler navigation radar in the forward belly
  Early HH-53Bs featured T64-GE-3 turboshafts with 3,080 shaft horsepower (2,297 kW) each, but these engines were later upgraded to T64-GE-7 turboshafts with 3,925 shaft horsepower (2,927 kW). Five crew were standard, including a pilot, copilot, crew chief, and two pararescuemen.
caption: A HH-53B of the 40th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron refueling from a HC-130P Hercules over North Vietnam, 1969–70
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