0:32 AM How Black Hawk Helicopters Work | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Providing Combat Support Military or combat support requires moving many troops and tons of equipment to locations where planes or ground-based vehicles often can't reach. The Black Hawk was designed with these types of logistical missions in mind. Combining power and an adaptable configuration, the Black Hawk can ferry thousands of pounds of equipment, weapons, and nearly a dozen men to remote locations quickly.
Three crewmembers are required to operate the UH-60L Black Hawk, including two pilots and one crew chief. In addition to the crew, the Black Hawk can carry 11 fully equipped soldiers. Multiple tie-downs on the cabin floor allow the interior and seat arrangements to be reconfigured to accommodate varied missions.
Externally, the Black Hawk uses its External Stores Support System (ESSS) to carry additional cargo. The ESSS consists of removable stub wings that attach to each side of the fuselage above the cabin. Each wing has two pylons, which can carry a total of 9,000 pounds (~4,082 kg) of external loads, including fuel tanks, electronic countermeasure (ECM) pods, 16 Hellfire anti-armor missiles (16 additional missiles can be carried internally for reload), guns, and mine dispensers. A cargo hook located on the undercarriage gives the helicopter another method for carrying heavy loads, such as small vehicles, artillery, and large amounts of supplies. Inside the cockpit, the pilots can use an auto-flight control system that includes autopilot and autostabilization features. The navigational equipment includes:
Although it was not designed to be an assault vehicle like the Apache, the Black Hawk must be loaded with equipment for the crew and passengers to protect themselves in flight and on the ground. In the next section, we'll look at some of the built-in protections and artillery that provide defense for the Black Hawk.
Performance in Battle: Defense Crossing the battlefield, the Black Hawk is an inviting target for enemy gun fire and anti-aircraft fire. Due to the nature of its combat role, the Black Hawk must be able to withstand these types of small- and medium-arms strikes.
The chopper's airframe is metal; other components, including floors, doors, and fairings, are composite. A fairing is used between joints of the helicopter to streamline those points for maneuverability and speed. To reduce damage during attacks, the helicopter has built-in tolerance to small-arms fire and most medium-caliber, high-explosive projectiles, according to Sikorsky. If it is hit, it also has a self-sealing, crash-resistant fuel system and ballistic-hardened flight controls. Additionally, armored seats and swing-out armor side panels protect the pilots. In case of emergency or hard landings, energy-absorbing landing gear and seats help protect crew and passengers. The Black Hawk can survive a vertical impact rate of 38 feet (11.6 m) per second. The fin connected to the end of the tail can be swiveled up and down to help control the helicopter if the tail rotor fails or is lost. Additional protection is built into the fuel cells, which are crashworthy from a drop as high as 65 feet (~20 m). Pilots can quickly escape after a crash by jettisoning the cockpit doors and exiting through the emergency pop-out windows.
Performance in Battle: Retaliation Not only does it need to withstand bullet and rocket fire, it must also be equipped so that the crew can retaliate with ammunition. Two gunners can be stationed to fire the helicopter's two 7.62-mm machine guns mounted in the cabin windows to return fire and provide protection for soldiers entering and exiting the vehicle during battle. It can also use Hellfire missiles if so equipped. Some types of Black Hawks, such as those used as medevacs, are typically not equipped with missiles. Medevacs carry pods containing medical supplies. The ESSS can also be outfitted with a 20-mm gun pod or a 30-mm chain gun.
The Black Hawk is a product of the Vietnam War in as much as it was developed to address the weaknesses of Vietnam-era helicopters. In the next section, you will learn more about the Black Hawk's early development and how the U.S. military plans to keep it operable for another 20 years.
History and Development Helicopters entered military combat for the first time during World War II. Since then, their use has transformed from only search-and-rescue and medevac to that of assault weapon (see How Apache Helicopters Work). Tactically, the helicopter evolved during the Vietnam War with the advent of the Bell UH-1 "Huey" Iroquois helicopter, according to Stephen F. Tomajczyk, author of "Black Hawk".
Tomajczyk credits Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore with developing the battle tactic of sending troops into the battlefield using the Huey, and then quickly transporting soldiers back to safety when the fight was over. Moore and his role in the first major battle of the Vietnam War at Ia Drang was the basis for the book and movie "We Were Soldiers."
Based on the success of helicopter combat during the Vietnam War, the U.S. Army sought to devise a more advanced helicopter for use in battle. While the Huey showed that it was capable of moving troops to battle, the Army sought a design that was adaptable for different configurations, provided more power, and was quieter and more maneuverable than the Huey. The Army set up the Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System (UTTAS) program to develop this new transport helicopter.
In 1972, both Boeing and Sikorsky were contracted to develop prototypes for this new breed of combat helicopter. Four years later, Sikorsky eventually won the competition to build the Army's new UH-60A helicopter. It is tradition to name Army helicopters in honor of a Native American tribe. In that tradition, the UH-60A was named the Black Hawk. The Black Hawk entered service in 1978, and it saw its first combat action in 1983, when United States forces invaded Grenada. Since it entered service, the Black Hawk has logged more than 5 million flight hours. It has provided transport for troops in Panama, Southwest Asia, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
A new power train was added to the Black Hawk in 1989, and the helicopter's designation changed from UH-60A to UH-60L. Future upgrades are planned that will focus on advanced avionics, enhanced survivability, and improved reliability. These improvements will ensure that the Black Hawk stays in the U.S. arsenal through at least 2025. An upgraded Black Hawk, the UH-60M, should enter production in 2007. Today, the Black Hawk is adapted to serve varying purposes. In the next section, we will look at some of the variations that are derived from the UH-60L.
Variations You can think of the UH-60L as the base version of this model of helicopter. It's much like a car in that it can be upgraded and refitted with different components depending on what you want to use it for. Every branch of service in the U.S. Armed Forces and many foreign militaries use the Black Hawk or one of its many offshoots.
Here is a look at the different variations of helicopter that are derived from the UH-60L.
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