An Army UH-60M Black Hawk approaches the deck of the MATV MV Sycamore. Photo: ADF.
The Australian Army’s new Black Hawk helicopters have made their debut at sea, with handling trials of one of the helicopters aboard a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) training ship last month.
Flown by RAN test pilots, the UH-60M Black Hawk conducted an initial series of First of Class Flight Trials (FOCFT) aboard the Military Aviation Training Vessel (MATV), MV Sycamore off the NSW South Coast on 8 August.
The trials are necessary to ascertain the aircraft’s behaviour at sea, and how winds from different directions and the speed of the ship affect its landing and takeoff profiles, as well as its deck handling characteristics, and compatibility with onboard electrical and refuelling systems.
The Black Hawk on deck connected to onboard electrical power. Photo: ADF.
Despite the Army previously operating older model Black Hawk’s at sea and the Navy operating the very similar MH-60R Romeo Seahawk, the new Black Hawk features a different flight control system and rotor blades, so its baseline handling characteristics at sea still need to be understood and documented.
Once operational, the Black Hawks are expected to occasionally embark aboard the RAN’s much-larger Canberra-class Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) vessels, and possibly the amphibious support vessel HMAS Choules.
The Army has 40 new Black Hawks on order under Project Land 4507 to replace the MRH 90 Taipans which were grounded and withdrawn from service last September following two crashes, one of which was fatal.
Some eight Black Hawks have been delivered to date in a standard configuration, while another four aircraft are expected to be delivered by the end of the year and will be equipped with a winch.
Additional enhancements are also planned for the aircraft – likely including a weather radar, a forward looking infra-red (FLIR) sensor and a door gun placement. The enhancement package is being managed directly through the US Army and may require some of the early aircraft to return to the US for installation of these systems.
In the meantime, prime contractor Lockheed Martin has established a spares warehouse in western Sydney not far from the initial home base at Holsworthy Barracks, while Lockheed Martin staff are also embedded with the project office in Brisbane, and have conducted initial engineering theory courses at Oakey near Toowoomba.
Five H135 Juno helicopters arrived at Nowra in August, and will be used for training and proficiency flying alongside the Black Hawks at Oakey. Photo: ADF.
Twenty Black Hawks will be operated by the No 6 Aviation Regiment (6Avn) based at Holsworthy in support of the Army’s No 2 Commando Regiment (2Cdo), while the other 20 will be operated by 5Avn based at an expanded Swartz Barracks at Oakey alongside five H135 Juno helicopters which will be used for training and proficiency.
The H135s were announced in April and are leased from manufacturer Airbus. They arrived in Australia in August and are being reassembled at HMAS Albatross near Nowra in preparation for their ferry flight to Oakey.
