US Army receives advanced UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter

News, US January 24, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

U.S. Army received the advanced multi-purpose UH-60M Black Hawk military helicopter from a Lockheed Martin company Sikorsky. The company marked the 5,000th “Hawk” variant helicopter delivery.

According to the Lockheed Martin statement, “The iconic aircraft will continue to support medium-lift requirements for the U.S. military and international operators for decades into the future.” The Lockheed Martin company, Sikorsky Sikorsky is also celebrating its 100^th anniversary this year.

Sikorsky President Paul Lemmo said “Sikorsky, as a company, has been forged by the Black Hawk… The Black Hawk and its variants deliver when reliability and performance are nonnegotiable. Hawk aircraft continue to demonstrate their versatility and readiness with the latest technological advancements and ongoing U.S. and global investment in the aircraft.”

The utility helicopter project manager for the Program Executive Office Aviation Col. Calvin Lane said that “For more than 40 years the Black Hawk has remarkably supported Soldiers in every major contingency operation the Army has executed.”

Colonel Calvin Lande highlighted that although the Black Hawk helicopter has been in the U.S. Army service longer than most of the soldiers it now supports, the helicopters would continue to serve in the front line for another 40 years and beyond. Lane said that “everyone who contributes to the delivery of this aircraft in any way, contributes directly to providing combat capability that protects Soldiers and helps the Army accomplish its mission.”

The helicopter can carry 2 pilots and 2 gunners, and fly at a maximum speed of 183 mph (294 km/h). It can also carry 3,190 lb (1,450 kilograms) of internal cargo, including 11 seated troops or 6 stretchers, or 9,000 lb (4,100 kilograms) of external cargo.

The UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter has a combat range of about 370 miles (590 kilometers) and can be equipped with two M240 machine guns, two 7.62mm M134 miniguns, or two 12.7 mm GAU-19 gatling guns. It can also carry 70mm unguided rockets as well as up to 4 AGM-114 Hellfire laser-guided air-to-ground missiles or 2 AIM-92 Stinger heat-seeking air-to-air missiles

^{Sikorsky and DARPA successfully demonstrate for the first time how an uninhabited Black Hawk helicopter flying autonomously can perform cargo resupply missions and rescue operations. (Image Credit: Lockheed Martin)}

Last year in November, U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Sikorsky successfully conducted rescue operation and cargo resupply mission exercises using a Black Hawk helicopter flying without a human pilot on board.

The demonstration was conducted as part of the U.S. Army’s Project Convergence 2022 experiment and the test flights showed how existing and future piloted utility helicopters could “fly complex missions in reduced crew or autonomous mode”. This would give U.S. Army commanders and aviators “greater flexibility in how and when aircraft and pilots are used, especially in limited visibility or contested environments,” the company’s statement highlighted.

During the demonstration of combined cargo delivery and casualty evacuation mission, the Black Hawk helicopter lifted off with a 2,600-pound external load attached to a 40-foot sling and flew at 100 knots for 30 minutes toward a designated landing zone.