Using two tandem, fully articulated three-bladed counter-rotating rotors, the H-21 was powered by one nine-cylinder Curtis-Wright R-1820-103 Cyclone supercharged 1,150 hp (858 kW) air-cooled radial engine.

[1] The H-21B was equipped with an uprated version of the Wright 103 engine, developing 1,425 shaft horsepower (1,063 kW) and featured rotor blades extended by 6 inches (152 mm).

With its improved capabilities, the H-21B could carry 22 fully equipped infantrymen or 12 stretchers, plus space for two medical attendants, as a medevac helicopter.

[3] The uprated 1425 hp Wright engine used in the H-21B was also used in subsequent variants sold to both the U.S. Army (as the H-21C Shawnee) and the military forces of several other nations.

Some French Air Force and Army aviation H-21C helicopters were subsequently armed with fixed, forward-firing rockets and machine guns.

[5][6][7] Though the H-21 had been removed from ground-attack, official U.S. Army evaluations at the time indicated that the type was actually more likely to survive hits by ground fire than was the Sikorsky CH-34; this was assumed to be a consequence of the location and construction of the CH-34's fuel tanks.

On 24 August 1954, with the assistance of inflight refueling provided by a U.S. Army U-1A Otter, a H-21C known as Amblin' Annie became the first helicopter to cross the United States non-stop.

Relatively slow, the CH-21's unprotected control cables and fuel lines proved vulnerable to the Vietcong, which were increasingly well supplied with automatic small arms and heavy (12.7 mm) anti-aircraft machine guns.