Now the modern variant of this utility aircraft is taking on a new mission set — as an Armed Helicopter used in American Land Wars. More than 4,000 BLACK HAWK aircraft of all types are in service worldwide today. The U.S. Army is the largest operator with 2,135 H-60 designated aircraft. The same aircraft sold internationally direct from Sikorsky acquires the S-70 designation.
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Armed Kit
Expanding Mission Effectiveness for Your Black Hawk Helicopter
As a Lockheed Martin company, Sikorsky can now offer international customers via direct commercial sale a BLACK HAWK helicopter integrated with guns, rockets and missiles.
Civilian Black Hawks are known as the Sikorsky S-70 and cost approximately $13 million new.
Armed solutions are scalable – from crew served door guns to a fully integrated weapons system controlled from the cockpit by either pilot. Configurations tailored to customer preferences allow the aircraft to provide fire suppression, support ground troop, become an armed escort, or perform armed assault missions.
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It is a UH-60A built in 1980 and was operated by the United States Army
Today Ukraine has given a surprise by showing its first UH-60 Black Hawk, something unexpected, since the US did not announce any delivery of these helicopters.
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The announcement was made by the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (GUR), publishing two photos of the UH-60 on its website, in a statement titled: "The military intelligence aviation of Ukraine performs combat missions on the first line of defense".
The text reads as follows: "Ukrainian military intelligence aviation continues its work on the first line of defense of our state. Reconnaissance pilots have just returned from another combat mission." The statement, which makes no mention of the UH-60, adds the following: "The combat helicopters significantly increase the capabilities of the special units of the Main Intelligence Directorate and the effectiveness of special operations. GUR MO pilots continue to destroy the enemy in all areas of the front."
One of the images shows a Mil Mi-24 attack helicopter of Soviet origin (on the right) and a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk on the right. We can see here an extension of the helicopter of American origin:
The GUR has published a second photo of the UH-60. The helicopter bears the Ukrainian military cockade painted on the engine and the Ukrainian flag on the tailgate. There are two details that stand out and that is that the helicopter has glossy paint, something typical of civil aircraft (military aircraft have matte paint to go more unnoticed), and it also has painted some blue and white lines.
These details have helped some analysts identify the helicopter. This is a UH-60A from the American company Ace Aeronautics. Here we can see it with the US civilian registration N60FW at a photo released by that company on Oct 17, 2019. The helicopter fuselage decoration matches the UH -60 of the photos shown by the GUR. Coincidentally, the part of the tail where the helicopter's license plate appeared does not appear in the photo released today.
Here we can see a video from Ace Aeronautics showing that same UH-60A taking off from Guntersville Municipal Airport, Alabama, 11 months ago:
The N60FW registration with the FAA indicates that the helicopter would have been acquired by Ace Aeronautics in November 2015. This company is dedicated to updating aircraft for private and government clients. A year ago it delivered a modernized UH-60A to the Austrian Armed Forces.
Helis.com data on that helicopter indicates that it was built in 1980 under construction number 70-197, being delivered to United States Army Aviation under serial number 80-23439. At the end of November 2022, that helicopter was still in the US, so its delivery to Ukraine must have been recently. At Aircraft.com there is a review of this helicopter, aimed at its possible sale, which includes this description:
"Exceptional RESTRICTED CATEGORY Black Hawk (RCTC #R00005RC) with 5,875 hours total time. PMI I & II and new paint in 2016 (PMI-1 due in 589 hours; PMI-2 due in 229 hours). Engines are T700-GE-700 (ETFs 0.98 on No. 1 and 1.0 on No. 2). Garmin G5000H Integrated Flight Deck STC #SR01944WI applied with Synthetic Vision, HTAWS, Storm Scope, Obstacle Alert, Wire Aware, geo-referenced maps and charts, SXM satellite radio/wx, Iridium talk/text/wx, ADS-B in/out, SafeTaxi, and more. EO/IR Sensor Mount STC #SR01957WI applied (sensor not included). Excellent component times. Price includes operator and maintenance publications, G5000H training, and delivery within the Continental U.S. Negotiable: With our state-of-the-art paint facilities, we can customize the paint to your requirements."
The FAA notes the following: "A restricted category special airworthiness certificate is issued to operate aircraft that have been type certificated in the restricted category. Operation of restricted category aircraft is limited to special purposes identified in the applicable type design." These categories include agricultural, forestry, photographic, infrastructure surveillance, and other utility uses.
On March 8, 2022, Ace Aeronautics published this photo of the helicopter in question with an AGM-114 Hellfire missile mount and an M134 Minigun machine gun. The photo was taken at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas, and its description read as follows: "our Blue AceDeck helicopter, with L3 WESCAM Electro-Optical Sensor (EOS) on our STC-ed sensor mount, and CFD International's External Gun Mount System (EGMS), complete with Hellfire missiles and an M134 Gatling Gun that can be fixed-forward or used by the crew chief/door gunner. The UH-60A shown by Ukraine does not include these weapon mounts nor the L3 WESCAM sight on its front.
Taking into account that Ukraine already has an operational UH-60, it would not be a bad idea for other countries, especially the US (which is the largest operator of this helicopter) to be encouraged to deliver more Black Hawks to Ukraine. The Ukrainian Armed Forces need all the help they can get to beat Russia, and an excellent helicopter like the UH-60 could be a big help.
". . .At least one of the legendary U.S. Black Hawk multi-purp deose helicopters is already helping Ukrainian intelligence, the Ukrainian military’s Main Intelligence Directorate or HUR reported on Facebook on Feb. 21.
Officially, neither the United States nor any other country has announced the transfer of any of the famous U.S. UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to Ukraine. However, on Feb. 21, the HUR published a news piece in which it showed the reconnaissance pilots who “returned after completing another combat mission.”
In the photo, Ukrainian scouts are standing in front of a Black Hawk helicopter with Ukrainian markings
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Poland received more than 30 such helicopters at the end of last year. This version is manufactured by PZL Mielec, a Polish subsidiary of Sikorsky Aircraft.
However, Agnieszka Gasiewska, the company’s press secretary, told the Polish publication that “PZL Mielec does not have Ukrainian clients in its portfolio.”
✓ Meanwhile, Ukraine Weapons Tracker analysts suggested that it could be a former U.S. Army chopper, repaired and upgraded by Ace Aeronautics, LLC.
“This particular vehicle does not have visible armament, but numerous upgrades are available that can provide significant firepower and superior sensor capabilities. In this case, it was likely bought privately and financed by allies,” Ukraine Weapons Tracker analysts report.
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Details:
UH-60 Black Hawk
✓ The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a U.S. tactical multipurpose helicopter developed in the mid-1970s by the Sikorsky Aircraft company, which was founded in the United States by the Ukrainian aircraft designer Ihor Sikorsky back in the 1920s.
✓ The helicopter project won a competition for the needs of the U.S. Army and was named the Black Hawk in honor of the legendary warrior and leader of the Sauk native American tribe. In 1979, the helicopter entered service with the U.S. Army.
✓ Over the past decades, many versions of this helicopter have been developed, including improved versions such as UH-60L and UH-60M, and specialized versions for the U.S. Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. Black Hawks have seen combat in conflicts in Panama, Iraq, Somalia, the Balkans, Afghanistan, the Middle East, and elsewhere.
S-70i Black Hawk
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S-70i Black Hawk is a Polish licensed version of the legendary U.S. UH-60 helicopter.
Read also: Ukraine’s allies wondered how the country got real-time data about the enemy — HUR
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The base model S-70i does not carry any weapons. But the Battlehawk combat system can be installed on the helicopter with additional equipment for pilots and the entire suite of weapons: machine guns of various calibers, a 20 mm cannon, a laser-guided missile system, etc.
The helicopter has a digital flight control system, with four multifunctional displays for the crew. It can carry up to 13 passengers on board.
Manufacturer: PZL Mielec, Poland – Polish subsidiary of Sikorsky Aircraft.
In service: since 2011
Maximum take-off weight: 9.98 tons
Weight: 5.37 tons
Speed: 296 km/h
Range: 578 km
Body length: 10.17 m
Screw diameter: 16.36 m
Total length: 19.76 m
Height: 2.66 m
Width: 4.37 m (tail wings), 2.13 m (cabin)
Two engines: 1,940 hp. each
Crew: 2 people
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
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The BLACK HAWK multirole helicopter serves with the U.S. military and the armed forces of 28 other countries worldwide as a tough, reliable utility helicopter.
During the last 40 years, this remarkable aircraft has fought its way in and out of countless combat zones to deliver and extract troops, save lives as a MEDEVAC or casualty evacuation platform, provide critical supplies to troops, deliver emergency supplies during natural disasters, and perform as an aerial firefighter and border patroller.
Now the modern variant of this utility aircraft is taking on a new mission set — as an Armed Helicopter to provide fire suppression when supporting ground troops, as well as armed escort. With digital avionics, powerful GE engines, high strength airframe structures and composite wide chord rotor blades, today’s BLACK HAWK platform has better survivability and situational awareness, and can fly higher and carry more than its predecessors ever did.
More than 4,000 BLACK HAWK aircraft of all types are in service worldwide today. The U.S. Army is the largest operator with 2,135 H-60 designated aircraft. The same aircraft sold internationally direct from Sikorsky acquires the S-70 designation.
Multi-Role Capabilities
At 9,979 kg / 22,000 lbs. max. gross weight, the utility version of the BLACK HAWK helicopter transports 12 fully equipped, seated troops into the heat of battle. Within the following mission sets, Sikorsky can further customize to specific requirements. . .
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