Did you know:
- The famous helicopter manufacturer was founded in 1925 by the brilliant aviation designer of Ukrainian origin, Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky.
- Although he was himself a staunch Russian nationalist, he quickly grasped the perverse Bolshevik ideology and emigrated to the USA in 1919, where he initially worked as a teacher. Today, the company is part of the Lockheed Martin group.
- The Black Hawk helicopter was developed in 1972 based on the American military's requirement for a multi-purpose tactical air transport.
- Based on the costly lessons learned from the Vietnam War, where nearly 50% of the deployed UH-1 helicopters were destroyed, a machine was developed that achieves higher speeds and is better armored.
- The ballistic protection of the cockpit is capable of withstanding rounds up to 23 mm in caliber.
- The first flight took place on October 17, 1974 from the company’s airfield in Connecticut.
- The UH-60 machines have participated in many military missions since 1983. Perhaps the most famous is the American military’s operation in the Somali city of Mogadishu in 1993, later depicted by director Ridley Scott in the film Black Hawk Down.
- The Black Hawk is still manufactured today in several modifications. Perhaps the best-known variant is the VH-60N, known by the call sign "Marine One" for transporting government officials and the president, or the ESSS version with wings on which additional fuel tanks and weapon systems are mounted.
- Since 2022, the US Navy has also been using several fully autonomous machines equipped with advanced AI technology to perform special tasks.
- Specially modified helicopters also participated in the apprehension of the wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden in 2011. The machines had modified main rotor blades and were presumably equipped with external sound actuators that enabled a silent approach to the intervention site. This is likely the reason why local residents did not notice the operation at all.
- Interestingly, the helicopter can be disassembled in a matter of minutes so that it can be loaded into the cargo hold of a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft and deployed anywhere in the world.
- In various versions, over 5000 units have been produced to date.
- The procurement price of the military version is 15 - 25,000,000 USD.
- Operating costs per flight hour are an incredible 6,000 USD. As the saying goes, if you invest in the monkey, you must also invest in the bananas.
Technical parameters:
- dimensions: fuselage length 15.27 m, width 2.36 m, height 5.13 m
- main rotor diameter 16.36 m, tail rotor diameter 3.35 m
- weight (empty) 5,120 kg
- maximum takeoff weight 9,190 kg
- powerplant: 2 x General Electric T700-GE-701C engines, each with an output of 1410 kW
- maximum speed 294 km/h
- operational radius 592 km, maximum range 2,220 km
- fuel tank capacity 1136 l
- service ceiling 5,790 m
- rate of climb 1.9 m/s
- crew 3 persons
- passenger capacity 11
- armament: 2x M240 machine guns, 7.62 mm caliber
Operation Neptune Spear Commander William McRaven:
“One of the Black Hawk helicopters encountered difficulties over the high wall of the complex due to the warm and dense air. The pilots decided on an emergency landing exactly as they had been trained for such situations. While everyone in the operations room was gripped by anxiety, the SEAL team remained completely calm. The soldiers exited the tilted helicopter and continued with the mission.”
Assembly instructions
