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S-70 series
040327-pb-firehawk-17-16
Los Angeles County Fire Department S-70A Firehawk rescuing an injured hiker at Devil's Punchbowl near Palmdale, California
Role Medium-lift transport/utility helicopter
Manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft
First flight 1974
Introduction 1979
Status In service
Primary users U.S. Customs and Border Protection
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
Government Flying Service (Hong Kong)
See Operators below for others
Produced 1970s-present
Variants Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk
Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk
Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk
Sikorsky HH-60 Jayhawk
Mitsubishi H-60

The Sikorsky S-70 is a medium transport/utility helicopter family manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. It was developed for the U.S. Army in the 1970s, winning a competition to be designated the UH-60 Black Hawk and spawning a large family in U.S. military service. Civilian versions, and some military versions are produced under various S-70 model designations.

Development[]

The S-70 family was developed to meet a US Army requirement to replace the venerable UH-1 Iroquois family of utility medium-lift helicopters in 1972. Three YUH-60A prototypes were constructed, with the first flying in October 1974. They were evaluated against the Boeing-Vertol YUH-61A. The YUH-60A was selected for production, and entered service as the UH-60A Black Hawk with the US Army in 1979.[1]

After entering service, the helicopter was modified for new missions and roles, including mine laying and medical evacuation. An EH-60 variant was developed to conduct electronic warfare and special operations aviation developed the MH-60 variant to support its missions.[2] In the late 1980s the model was upgraded to the UH-60L, which featured more power and lift with the upgrade to the -701C model of the GE T700 engine. The improved UH-60M model was developed in the early 2000s.[1]

The S-70 can perform a wide array of missions, including air cavalry, electronic warfare, and aeromedical evacuation: several versions are even used to transport the President of the United States, which while carrying the President is known as "Marine One". In air assault operations it can move a squad of 11 combat troops and equipment or carry the 105 mm M102 howitzer, thirty rounds of ammunition, and a six-man crew. Alternatively, it can carry 2,600 lb (1,200 kg) of cargo or sling load 9,000 lb (4,100 kg) of cargo. The S-70 is equipped with advanced avionics and electronics, such as the Global Positioning System.

Katrina-14837

HH-60G Pave Hawk

The United States Navy received the first navalized SH-60B Seahawk in 1983, and the SH-60F Ocean Hawk in 1988. The HH-60G Pave Hawk is a highly modified version of the S-70 primarily designed to recover downed aircrew or other isolated personnel during war and equipped with a rescue hoist with a 250 ft (76 m) cable that has a 600 lb (270 kg) lift capability, and a retractable in-flight refueling probe. The United States Air Force received the MH-60G Pave Hawk in 1982.

Firehawk-s70c-N2FH-070919-fox-01cr-16

S-70C Firehawk operated by Brainerd Helicopters, at Fox Field, Lancaster, California

The United States Coast Guard received the HH-60J Jayhawk in 1992. It utilizes the equipment of the HH-60G Pave Hawk on the navalized SH-60 platform.

The S-70A Firehawk is a version of the S-70 designed for firefighting, rescue, medical evacuation, and external lift of bulky cargo and equipment. The Oregon National Guard was the first military organization in the world to add the Firehawk to its inventory; the Los Angeles County Fire Department was the first municipal organization. Brainerd Helicopters of Leesburg, Florida operates the S-70C Firehawk on wildfires under the "FirehawK" brand.

The Army also flies medical evacuation models which are configured as rotary winged medical suites. It also uses the S-70 for special operations by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment ("Night Stalkers") at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, designated as the MH-60K.

The Maple Hawk was a variant offered by Sikorsky to the Canadian Forces during the tender to replace the military's search and rescue helicopters.

The unit cost varies with the version. For example, the unit cost of the Army's UH-60L Black Hawk is $5.9 million while the unit cost of the Air Force MH-60G Pave Hawk is $10.2 million.

Variants[]

ÖBH BlackHawk Zams Boden2st

Austrian Bundesheer S-70 Blackhawk

SH-60B Seahawk2

US Navy SH-60B Seahawk

Sikorsky HH-60

HH-60J JayHawk

VH-60 Marine One

VH-60N White Hawk

Sikorsky S-70i Black Hawk SP-YVC ILA 2012 07

Polish-built S-70i Black Hawk in 2012

H-60[]

  • VH-60 White Hawk: The US Presidential transport helicopter, Marine One.

S-70[]

The company name for the H-60/S-70 family is the S-70 Black Hawk

  • S-70A Black Hawk: Military model for the export market.
    • S-70A Firehawk: Firefighting variant of the UH-60L. Tank system designed and built by Aero Union in Chico, California.
    • S-70A (N) Naval Hawk: Maritime variant that blends the S-70A Black Hawk and S-70B Seahawk designs.
  • S-70B/C Seahawk: Maritime military model for the export market.
  • S-70C Firehawk: Commercial variant
  • S-70i Black Hawk: International military version assembled by Sikorsky subsidiary, PZL Mielec in Poland.[3][4]
  • T-70: A Turkish variant of the S-70i, built under license by Turkish Aerospace Industries with indigenous Turkish mission-computer, avionics, landing gear and transmission.[5][6] Turkey was to initially to produce about 150 T-70s under license. US Ambassador to Turkey Frank Ricciardone stated that Turkey now intends to produce some 600 T-70s.[7]

Derivatives[]

Operators[]

Operators[]

Flag of Colombia Colombia
  • Colombian National Police[11]
Flag of Mexico Mexico
  • Jalisco State Police[12]
Flag of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia
  • Ministry of Interior[13]
United States
  • Los Angeles County Fire Department[14]
  • U.S. Customs and Border Protection[15][16]

Former operators[]

Flag of Hong Kong Hong Kong
  • Government Flying Service[17]

Specifications (S-70i)[]

Data from Sikorsky[18]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2
  • Capacity: 14-17 seats/11 troops/4 stretchers
  • Payload: 4,072 kg (9,000 lb) externally slung
  • Length: 19.76 m (64 ft 10 in)
  • Rotor diameter: 53 ft 8 in (16.36 m)
  • Height: 5.33 m (17 ft 6 in)
  • Empty weight: 5347 kg (11,790 lb)
  • Max. takeoff weight: 9,997 kg (22,000 lb)
  • Powerplant: 2 × General Electric T700-GE-701C turboshaft, 1,409 kW (1,890 shp) at 0.462 Specific fuel consumption[19] each
  • Fuel, internal: 1,360 L
  • Auxiliary Fuel: 2x 700 L tanks internally, 1,705 L (450 US gal) tank on each inboard pylon and 872 L (230 US gal) tank on each outboard pylon, or 1,705 L (450 US gal) tank on each pylon

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 361 km/h (195 knots, 224 mph)
  • Range: 463 km, (288 mi, 250 nmi)with 20 min reserve
  • Service ceiling: 4,021 m (13,200 ft) hover in ground effect: 2,743 m (9,000 ft)
  • Rate of climb: 11.43 m/s (2,250 ft/m)

See also[]

References[]

Notes
  1. 1.0 1.1 Bishop, Chris (2008). Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk. Osprey Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-84176-852-6. 
  2. Tomajczyk 2003, pp. 15–29.
  3. "Sikorsky breathes new life into PZL Mielec". Flight International, June 8, 2010.
  4. "First S-70i Helicopter Fully Assembled at Sikorsky Facility in Poland". Sikorsky, March 15, 2010.
  5. Sikorsky wins Turkish utility helicopter battle
  6. AMD – Aerospace Manufacturing and Design : News
  7. http://www.defensenews.com/article/20120729/DEFREG01/307290002/Can-Turkey-Afford-Its-Extensive-Defense-Plans-?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE
  8. "American airplanes: Sikorsky". Aerofiles.com. 2009-04-26. http://aerofiles.com/_sik.html. Retrieved 2011-04-07. 
  9. Sikorsky Helicopters - Helis.com
  10. S-71 image
  11. "Colombia requests nine more Black Hawks for counter-narcotics fight". flightglobal.com. http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/colombia-requests-nine-more-black-hawks-for-counter-narcotics-345919/. Retrieved 12-March-2013. 
  12. "Mexican State of Jalisco takes delivery of S-70i". helihub.com. http://helihub.com/2011/10/01/mexican-state-of-jalisco-takes-delivery-of-s-70i/. Retrieved 12-March-2013. 
  13. "Black Hawki z Mielca w Arabii Saudyjskiej". altair.com. http://www.altair.com.pl/news/view?news_id=6493. Retrieved 12-March-2013. 
  14. "L.A. County Fire Air Operations". lacounty.gov. http://www.fire.lacounty.gov/airwildland/AirWildlandAirOps.asp. Retrieved 12-March-2013. 
  15. "Black Hawk Made: A Peek Inside the Sikorsky Factory". wired.com. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/12/black-hawk-factory/. Retrieved 12-March-2013. 
  16. "CPB S-70". Demand media. http://www.airliners.net/photo/US-Customs-&/Sikorsky-UH-60A-Black/2059991/L/. Retrieved 12-March-2013. 
  17. "Hong Kong Government Flying Service S-70". http://www.helis.com/database/modelorg/67/. Retrieved 12-March-2013. 
  18. S70-061_IBH_SS.pdf sikorsky.com
  19. "General Electric T700C".
Bibliography
  • Leoni, Ray D. (2007). Black Hawk, The Story of a World Class Helicopter. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). ISBN 978-1-56347-918-2. 
  • Tomajczyk, Stephen F. (2003). Black Hawk. MBI. ISBN 0-7603-1591-4. 

External links[]

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