The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is the U.S. Army’s primary medium-lift utility military helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. It can fill roles in several missions such as a ground attack, air assault, military logistics, Casualty evacuation, medical evacuation, and troop transport. The UH-60 is a twin-engined helicopter. It is equipped with a single 4-bladed rotor and a single 4-bladed tail rotor.
the UH-60A and the UH-60L were the first two versions of the black hawk family entering service with the US army successively in 1979 and 1989.
The Multi-mission UH-60M is the latest in the BLACK HAWK helicopter product family, more survivable, more maintainable, and more powerful than its predecessors.
The M model was designed to carry 11 combat troops in addition to a crew of four, with their equipment, and lift 2,600 pounds of cargo internally or 9,000 pounds of cargo externally by the sling. With the ability to fly at a max cruise speed of 280km/h, while its hovering-in-ground-effect ceiling is 3,206 m and its hovering-out-of-ground-effect ceiling is 1,831m
This version is equipped with two General Electric T700-GE-701D turboshaft engines rated at 2,000 shaft horsepower (shp) each.
The titanium-cored rotor blades are resistant to AAA (anti-aircraft artillery) fire and are equipped with pressurized sensors capable of detecting rotor pressurization loss.
As an Armed Helicopter, the UH60-M provides fire suppression when supporting ground troops, as well as an armed escort. The advanced weapon system for this helicopter allows pilots to identify and engage static or moving targets with forward-firing guns, rockets, and laser-designated air-to-ground missiles.
To improve performance, reliability, and maintainability many features and systems are added to the UH-60M model.
UH60-M BLACK HAWK FEATURES AND SYSTEMS
- Active vibration control (AVC) system has the potential for reducing helicopter, crew, and passenger vibration throughout a wide range of forwarding flight speeds and rotor speeds,
- An Improved durability gearbox,
- Wide chord blades,
- Folding stabilator.
The UH-60M is equipped with VHF-FM, UHF-FM, and VHF-AM/FM radios, as well as an encrypted IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) recognition system.
This Black hawk version includes more advanced digital avionics, the new cockpit reduces pilot workload and improves situational awareness it contains:
– Four multi-function displays,
– Four-axis fully coupled flight director,
– Digital map,
– Dual Embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System (EGI),
– Joint Variable Message Format (JVMF) messaging,
– Stormscope,
– Integrated Vehicle Health Management System (IVHMS) with Crash Survivable Memory Unit (CSMU),
During the last 40 years, this remarkable aircraft has fought its way in and out of countless combat zones in Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Somalia, the Balkans, Afghanistan, and other areas in the Middle East.
