Know about Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter

The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-bladed, twin-engine, medium-lift utility helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft.

Black Hawk, first introduced in 1979, has gone through many upgrades and correspondingly has many variants.

The most preferred with Air-Forces around the world at present is UH-60M.

UH-60M Black Hawk has improved design wide chord rotor blades, T700-GE-701D engines (max 2,000 shp or 1,500 kW each), improved durability gearbox, Integrated Vehicle Health Management System (IVHMS) computer, fly-by-wire system and Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS) cockpit suite, and new glass cockpit. Flight testing began in August 2008.

For armaments other than Hellfire and Stinger missiles, Black Hawk carries two 7.62 mm (0.30 in) M240 machine guns, or two 7.62 mm (0.30 in) M134 miniguns or two 0.50 in (12.7 mm) GAU-19 gatling guns.

Then there are rockets and bombs. For full elaboration of Arms configurations, see this link and marvel at the versatility of Black Hawk.

Horizontal Stabiliser of Black Hawk UH-60M had been reduced in weight by 20 percent by Israel

The news is that RAMTA Division of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) was named ‘Elite Supplier’ for 2017 by Sikorsky. Back in 2003, IAI developed a solution for a challenge posed by Sikorsky: reducing the weight and the price of the horizontal folding stabilizers for Black Hawk (UH60M) aircraft by 20%.

The prestigious award was presented to IAI RAMTA at a ceremony held recently at Sikorsky facilities in the USA by Mr. Dan Schulz, president of Sikorsky. Among other things, RAMTA specializes in re-designing metal aircraft parts and their manufacturing from composites in order to drive down the costs and achieve significant weight reduction.

Readmore: When two USAF F-15s shot down two U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters ,26 Died