Military
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The Boeing Vertol CH-46E Sea Knight, nicknamed the "Battle Phrog," was developed as an assault helicopter for the U.S. Marine Corps. It featured tandem rotors, one in front and one in back, that folded for shipboard stowage, and although other tandem-rotor helicopters came before it, the CH-46 was the first such type powered by turbine engines. CH-46s served with the Navy and Marine Corps for 50 years in every conflict of their era, and Sea Knights were also operated by Canada, Japan, Sweden, and Saudi Arabia. This aircraft, Bureau Number 152578, was delivered to the Navy as a CH-46D and, along with more than 275 other CH-46Ds, was converted into a CH-46E in the late 1970s with new avionics, structural enhancements, composite rotor blades, and more powerful engines. It later served with HX-21, Rotary Wing Aircraft Test Squadron at NAS Patuxent River, where it was used to test mission systems, infrared signature suppression, and armament upgrades to improve combat effectiveness and survivability. It was retired in October 2012 and transferred to PRNAM in 2014.
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