Page 27 - World Airnews Magazine April 2021

HELICOPTERS

RESCUE CHOPPER

FLIES FARTHER

Now, the folks in back can take on some should better withstand ground impacts.

of that workload. The crew in the rear also
The combat rescue helicopter made

ompared to many a warbird, the get newly configured seats that swivel to its first flight in May, after starting

CUS Air Force’s newest helicopter face either those multifunction displays, development in 2012. The Air Force

seems positively peaceful. It carries no inside toward patients on stretchers, awarded Sikorsky and parent company

Hydra rockets or Hellfire missiles, just a or outside to fire the window-mounted Lockheed Martin a (US) $1.3 billion

machine guns. The seats can also be
pair of .50-caliber machine guns - you collapsed and stowed up at the ceiling in contract to develop the aircraft. At the

can’t float about totally unarmed, after seconds, to create more room. moment, two models are undergoing flight

all. That’s because this chopper prioritizes Stretchers can be stacked and tests in West Palm Beach.
saving lives over taking them. configured to carry more or otherwise Although the Air Force last year found

Sikorsky’s HH-60W is a flying, a medical optimise their position for the rescue multiple deficiencies in the aircraft’s

evacuation aircraft designed to dip into crews working on the patients. A typical systems, and Sikorsky has fallen behind

combat zones, pick up the injured, and crew would include two pilots up front, a on development by several months, the
whisk them to safety. Instead of using flight engineer and a paramedic in back, company says it has solved the problems

precious lifting capability for missiles and and room for several litters. and expects to meet a September deadline

rockets, it hauls extra fuel, configurable The HH-60W has roughly twice the fuel that should allow it to begin production.
stretchers, and a hoist to pluck wounded capacity as its predecessor, thanks to a The helicopter could enter service

fighting men and women out of areas the new tank positioned behind the cabin that as soon as next year, and the Air Force

chopper can’t land in. replaces the Pave Hawk’s bulky auxiliary expects to order 112 in total by 2029.

The new combat rescue helicopter, as the tanks, which took up interior space. That Still, the rapid evolution of opposition to
Air Force dubbed it, comes with a suite of will double flight time from about two and the American military means that even as

improvements over the HH-60 Pave Hawk a half hours to five, without impacting the the new chopper swings into action, new

it’s replacing, some of them long needed. helicopter’s balance. challenges will arise. According to a report

It will be able to fly farther and protect The extra range means it can fly into in Aviation Week, Air Force and industry

itself better. It contains new mission- combat zones the Pave Hawks can’t reach, engineers worry that even with reduced

planning hardware that allows crews to an important factor in light of how combat vulnerability, no conventional helicopter

better coordinate their efforts and more is potentially shifting from the guerrilla will be able to ensure success in battlefield

efficiently search for injured comrades. tactics of Afghanistan and Iraq to more rescues in the face of new enemy tactics

Its mission-planning hardware provides modernised forces in Iran and Syria. and more advanced weaponry.

multifunction displays not just for the The new helicopter also comes equipped As a result, the Air Force is contemplating

pilots but for the crews in back, who help with a tactical mission kit that includes augmenting the HH-60W with electric

coordinate and execute rescue missions. more advanced detection and defensive air vehicles that can be dropped in

“A lot of times the flight engineer in the systems; hardening against cyberattack; seconds with a paramedic on board, and

back wants to know altitude, airspeed, improved connectivity with other then autonomously fly both patient and

direction, and other data, or look at the networks, vehicles, and troops in the area; paramedic out of immediate danger.

infrared displays, but requesting that new optical and infrared cameras; and That’s still a long way off, but any service

information from the pilots takes precious missile- and rocket-detection capabilities. It members stranded in danger before then

seconds away from their ability to safely has improved weapon mounts, ammunition can still count on an improved chance of

fly,” said programme director Greg Hames. storage, and armour plating. New seats rescue, thanks to this new spin doctor. Q

World Airnews | April 2021 World Airnews | April 2021
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