The United States Marine Corps took delivery of their first Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion on May 16, 2018. The helicopter (Bureau Number 169021) was handed over to Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron (VMX-1) at MCAS New River, North Carolina.

The initial CH-53K will undergo test and evaluation with VMX-1 with the type expected to become operational some time in 2019. The Marines are expected to deploy around 200 CH-53Ks in service to replace the current CH-53E Super Stallion.