Black Hawk Armed Variant Unveiled At Farnborough

[Zarvan]

by Sareth Kailas Kumaresan

Full Content Lockheed Martin’s missiles and fire control division along with its subsidiary Sikorsky have developed and unveiled a new version of the renowned S-70 Black Hawk utility helicopter. The new armed version of the chopper was launched at the 2016 Farnborough International Airshow taking place in England during the week of 11 to 17 July.

Bill Gostic, the vice president of Global Military Systems and services, spoke at the event, outlining the philosophy behind the armed variant of revered utility helicopter; and how it was made possible through the culmination of the resources of the two newly merged companies.

"Why arm the Black Hawk? It is trusted, and it is versatile," Gostic said. "The world today is unstable, and budgets are tight - militaries need options, and the armed Black Hawk provides them. We believe that this is the right time for an armed Black Hawk that combines a reduction in the pilot workload with lethality and versatility."

Sikorsky being the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for the Black Hawk, Lockheed Martin also brought missiles and fire control expertise to the project regarding integrating the weapons package into the aircraft’s existing flight management system. Even though, the two companies only formally joined in the November of 2015, their history of collaboration in the production of the Black-Hawk helicopters goes back many years, with the most recent being shown through the MH-60R Seahawk for the US Navy.

"Since the acquisition, we have been exploring synergies that might give added value to the customer," Gostic said.

This new variant opens a new chapter in the story of the iconic helicopter, and it’s value and effectiveness is yet to be tested in a real world scenario.

Sareth Kailas Kumaresan is an avid Defence enthusiast and a great IDN fan. This informative piece was written by him exclusively for IDN. Views expressed are his own

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[Zarvan]

@Arsalan @kaonalpha @balixd @Horus What is your opinion on these heavily Armed Transport helicopters. I think these are future specially in modern wars sending unarmed Helicopters is stupidity but these can clear area drop several soldiers and stay in Air for backup