The Austrian Armed Forces finalized the purchase of twelve new Black Hawk helicopters in the UH-60M variant at the weekend. Reason enough to take a more detailed look at the most modern variant of the Sikorsky-workhorse.
The current status of the Austrian Black Hawk fleet
The new helicopters that have now been purchased are not the first red-white-red Black Hawks. At the end of December 2000, the Republic of Austria ordered nine Sikorsky S-70A-42 helicopters. Deliveries began in August 2002, which at the time was the most modern Black Hawk variant in the world. While the pilots of the US Army (-> current news about the US armed forces) were still sitting in watch cockpits, the Austrian Black Hawks already had a glass cockpit with four multi-purpose screens.
After 15 years of service, however, it was necessary to carry out modifications. And so, on 1 June 2017, a contract was signed with ACE Aeronautics (a US company from Alabama) to modernize the nine Austrian Black Hawks (-> A look inside the new “Black Ace Hawk”). In the meantime, seven helicopters have been modified and handed back to the Austrian Armed Forces. But that’s not all, the order for three more Black Hawks was also placed in 2023. These used Black Hawks, from US Army stocks, fit in technically and logistically with the nine Austrian Black Hawks. They will also receive the cockpit from ACE Aeronautics, the nine helicopter fleet at Leopold Figl Air Base – General Pabisch Air Base (-> New name for Brumowski airbase) is thus completed to a full squadron of twelve helicopters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U556yn7kf8
At the same time, the Austrian Armed Forces began to upgrade the self-protection system of its helicopters to the latest state of the art. The two familiar “bumps” on both sides of the tail boom disappear. Instead, a flare launcher and a chaff launcher are mounted on both sides. The flare launchers shoot heat flares downwards at an angle on both sides in the event of a threat and are intended to prevent or at least interrupt the detection of infrared missiles. The chaff launchers shoot small aluminum strips backwards and upwards into the tail rotor. When swirled by the main and tail rotor, they are intended to create a radar-reflecting cloud and thus interrupt the detection of radar missiles.
The new UH-60M Black Hawk of the German Armed Forces
2007 marked the beginning of the digital cockpit era for the US Army. Production at the Sikorsky plant in Stratford (Conneticut/USA) was switched from the UH-60L Lima to the UH-60M Mike model. This step was preceded by three years of planning and four years of test flights. The cockpit of a UH-60M looks quite similar to the cockpit of a Bundesheer Black Hawk. The Mike cockpit is based on avionics from Rockwell Collins. The Ace Aeronautics cockpit is equipped with a Garmin 5000 system. Both cockpits are dominated by four multifunction displays and two flight management computers. There is also a “bathtub” full of buttons. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCjuhG4qyb8 Compared to the previous model, the crew has now officially grown to four people, two pilots and two flight technicians. Here, too, nothing has changed for the Austrian Armed Forces, who already fly their Black Hawks with a crew of four. The airframe was also improved as part of the conversion, with Sikorsky reducing the number of parts used, among other things. The changes prevent cracks and eliminate corrosion points. In addition, a reinforced gear carrier is used and the structure of the upper deck, which was introduced on the US Navy’s MH-60S Knighthawk, can also be found in the Mike versions. The airframe of the Mike model also has a rear access door and an avionics compartment. A crash-proof external fuel system was developed for the ESSS (External Stores Support System), which can hold up to four 871 liter fuel tanks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VBiLoP2D_4 A number of changes were also made to the propulsion system to ensure that the additional weight was not at the expense of flight performance. The UH-60M was fitted with two T700-GE-701D turbines (identical to Apache helicopters), which have around four percent more power and an improved service life compared to their predecessors -701C. The UH-60M continues to use the same gearbox as the UH-60L, but has been modified to include a Seahawk rotor brake. The rotor blades, on the other hand, are completely new. The main rotor blades are now made entirely of composite material. They are four centimetres wider and the blade tips are swept back further. This four-bladed high-lift main rotor provides a drastic improvement in payload range compared to the original Black Hawk while at the same time improving handling characteristics. To further improve the flight characteristics, the UH-60M also has active vibration dampers via the flight control computer. https://militaeraktuell.at/sikorsky-black-hawk-reise-noch-nicht-zu-ende/ From the outside, the old and new Black Hawks look very similar, but in principle they are still easy to tell apart. The distinguishing criterion is the engine outlet: on the Mike model, this goes straight upwards. This has the advantage that the hot exhaust gases are dispersed more quickly and the helicopter is better protected from detection in the infrared spectrum. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8wQIzJmJ40
The technical data of the UH-60M
Overall length: 19.76 meters Overall height: 5.33 meters Height above main rotor head: 3.76 meters Wheelbase: 8.84 x 2.97 meters Fuselage length: 15.43 meters Fuselage width: 2.36 meters Main rotor diameter: 16.36 meters Tail rotor diameter: 3.35 meters Empty weight: 5,674 kilograms Payload: 3,121 kilograms Mission weight: 8,791 kilograms Maximum take-off weight: 9,979 kilograms Load on hook: 4,082 kilograms
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