The
Advanced Weapon System for Attack Missions
The advanced weapon system for Black Hawk® helicopters allows pilots to identify and engage static or moving targets with forward firing guns, rockets and laser-designated air-to-ground missiles.
Today's modern Black Hawks can cruise at speeds in excess of 174 mph and climb at 1,315 feet per minute. They are operated by two pilots and two chiefs or gunners, but they can accommodate as many as 11 geared-out troops ready for a fight.
The Blackhawk featured various bulletproof capabilities, including a ballistically tolerant main structure, armored troop seats, and even a crashworthy, bulletproof fueling system. All of these features made the UH-60 Blackhawk a popular choice for transporting troops in hostile environments.
The Black Hawks will operate out of Oakey in Queensland and Holsworthy in NSW, with their delivery set to begin in 2023. In December 2021 then-defence minister Peter Dutton announced the army would ditch its entire fleet of troubled European-designed Taipan helicopters a decade earlier than scheduled.
The UH-60M Black Hawks will replace Australia's current non-Black Hawk multi-role helicopter fleet with a more reliable and proven system.
The maker of the venerable Black Hawk teamed with Boeing to pitch the Defiant X, a new-design helicopter whose stacked rotors and “pusher prop” enable it to fly much faster than the Black Hawk.
The other good news is that, for a war movie, the content in Black Hawk Down is pretty consistent. There are around 20 uses of the f-word, which is less than you'll hear in half an hour at high school.
U.S. military personnel inspect the wreckage of one of the two American UH-60 Black Hawks shot down in the 1994 Black Hawk shootdown incident in northern Iraq. Two U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawks destroyed, all 26 military and civilian personnel aboard killed.
The Civilian Black Hawk Helicopter
These multi-purpose Black Hawk helicopters were originally designed with military use in mind, but with the certification they received they are now available to the U.S commercial and civilian market.
A single Black Hawk can transport an entire 11-person, fully equipped infantry squad faster than a predecessor system in most weather conditions. The aircraft's critical components and systems are armored or redundant, and its airframe is designed to crush progressively on impact to protect crew and passengers.
Despite the added weight, Chinook remains the fastest rotorcraft in the Army fleet thanks to its tandem rotors, capable of carrying up to 55 soldiers long distances at a speed approaching 200 miles per hour.
The Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin is built by Airbus Helicopters, the same company that built the Eurocopter X3, which is currently the fastest helicopter in the world.
Australia has announced it will ditch its fleet of European-designed Taipan military helicopters a decade earlier than scheduled, replacing them with 40 Black Hawk choppers from the United States at an estimated cost of 2.8 billion Australian dollars ($1.97bn).
How much does a Black Hawk helicopter cost? Multiple military entities and division have the Black Hawk ranging in price from $15.1 million to upwards of $40.1 million (Air Force) depending on the modifications to the helicopter.
In the U.S. designation system, the "M" prefix is supposed to mean "special operations". Unfortunately, while most "MH" helicopters of the Army and Air Force are indeed special operations, the Navy MH-60S and MH-60R are general purpose naval helicopters.
Between December of 2019 and March of 2023, at least 10 Black Hawk crashes on U.S. soil have resulted in military fatalities. As of March 2023, Aviation Safety Network lists 390 total incidents involving Black Hawk helicopters (including variants). ASN data lists 970 deaths in Black Hawk helicopter crashes.
The film depicts the Battle of Mogadishu as being fought largely by Army Rangers and Delta Force. While not inaccurate, the 10th Mountain Division played a significant role in the October 3 – 4 battle, as well as the larger UN intervention, one not as well-appreciated.
There have been 60 deaths in Black Hawk-related training incidents in the past decade, according to Army data reviewed by Military.com. Service officials say recent years have been some of the safest for its go-to aviation workhorse after decades of safety concerns.
It's Joe Pesci, who's said the F-word 272 times in his various movies. But check this out: 241 of those were from a single movie: “Casino”.
All But 2 Bodies Found After U.S. Military Copter Crash
Search teams on Thursday found the wreckage of a crashed Army Black Hawk helicopter and recovered all but two of the bodies of servicemen killed in the Tuesday accident off the coast of Florida.
Believe it or not it is Joe Pesci has the record for most F-bombs in his movies, at 272. He's followed by Al Pacino with 197, Jason Mewes and Jonah Hill with 183 apiece . . . and Leonardo DiCaprio with 144.
The Black Hawk offers both pilots seats that are protected with heavy armor, and an armored fuselage capable of withstanding hits from guns with up to 23mm shells. It can also operate safely in the majority of severe weather conditions thanks to its wide array of advanced avionics.
The Mil Mi-24 (Russian: Миль Ми-24; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and was introduced by the Soviet Air Force in 1972.
The advanced weapon system for Black Hawk® helicopters allows pilots to identify and engage static or moving targets with forward firing guns, rockets and laser-designated air-to-ground missiles.