The Black Hawk is the Army's front-line utility helicopter used for air assault, air cavalry, and aeromedical evacuation units. Sikorsky Aircraft was awarded the US Army's Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System (UTTAS) contract in 1976 to develop a helicopter to replace the Bell UH-1 Iroquois that had entered service in the 1960's.
The first production aircraft (UH-60A) was flown in October of 1978 with the US Army taking delivery of its first Black Hawk in that same month. A total of 1,048 UH-60As were built for the US Army between 1978 and 1989, when production of the UH-60L was initiated. All existing UH-60As have either been rebuilt to the UH-60L standard or have been removed from service.
The first production aircraft (UH-60A) was flown in October of 1978 with the US Army taking delivery of its first Black Hawk in that same month. A total of 1,048 UH-60As were built for the US Army between 1978 and 1989, when production of the UH-60L was initiated. All existing UH-60As have either been rebuilt to the UH-60L standard or have been removed from service.
The UH-60 Black Hawk is a twin-engined medium lift utility helicopter. It is equipped with a single 4-bladed rotor and a single 4-bladed tail rotor. The basic crew compliment for the UH-60A is three; pilot, co-pilot, and crewchief. The titanium cored rotor blades are resistant to AAA (anti-aircraft artillery) fire up to 23mm and are equipped with pressurized sensors capable of detecting loss of rotor pressurization (damage.)
Posted by , Published at 1:58 PM and have
