New Black Hawk variant on the horizon.

AuthorHarper, Jon

The Army's UH-60 Black Hawk program recently hit a key milestone when a prototype of the V-variant successfully completed its first test flight. The project is an effort to enhance the service's aviation fleet without breaking the budget for modernization.

The Black Hawk helicopter transports troops and equipment into battle. It also supports other logistics activities and medical evacuation.

The aircraft gained fame in popular culture when it was featured in the film Black Hawk Down about the 1993 Battle for Mogadishu in Somalia. It was back in the spotlight in 2011 after a modified, stealthy version of the platform carried Navy SEALs to Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan where they killed the al-Qaida leader.

But many of the Army's Black Hawks are outdated and aging, and the service is looking to modernize its fleet.

The first UH-60A was built in the 1970s, with the follow-on L-variant coming online in the 1980s.

"The Lima cockpit largely has not changed since that time," said Lt. Col. Andrew Duus, H-60 product manager at Army program executive office aviation. "There have been upgrades to radios and to the GPS of course, but the primary instrumentation... has pretty much remained unchanged."

The UH-60V program looks to transform the UH-60L into a more capable platform by installing a digital cockpit.

"What we're doing is taking out the old cockpit, all the analog gauges, and we're replacing them with state-of-the-art multifunction... displays and all of the computing hardware to go along with that," Duus said.

The upgrades will provide operational advantages for aviators, he said.

"What 60 Victor allows them to do is to have greater situational awareness in the cockpit and it also reduces their workload in the cockpit and allows them to focus more on accomplishing their missions," he said.

Not having numerous "stovepiped systems" to monitor will reduce distractions for pilots, he said.

The new cockpit will include a moving map capability so they can see exactly where they are on the battlefield, as well as the location of friendly and enemy forces. For those who flew the L-variant, the moving map was located on a digital kneeboard that was strapped to the aviator's leg, Duus noted.

"That wasn't integrated into the cockpit, so you had to divide your attention constantly between... the analog gauges which were located in various spots on the dashboard, down to your leg where the kneeboard resided for you to see the moving map," he...

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