UNITED STATES
NEW USAF COMBAT RESCUE HELICOPTER AIRBORNE
SIKORSKY AIRCRAFT CARRIED out the first flight of the USAF’s new HH-60W combat rescue helicopter (CRH) at its test facility near West Palm Beach, Florida, on May 17. The 1.2-hour flight included hover control checks, low-speed flight, and a pass of the airfield. The contractor expected the second aircraft to begin flying by the end of May with two additional examples entering the project this summer. The USAF plans to replace its existing fleet of HH-60Gs with 112 HH-60Ws. The initial nine HH-60Ws comprise four engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) and five system demonstration test article (SDTA) aircraft.
The service received funding for 10 helicopters in Fiscal 2019 and requested 12 in Fiscal 2020. It plans to order 16 HH-60Ws in 2021 and 13 in 2022 before dropping procurement back to 12 aircraft in 2023 and 2024. Sikorsky anticipates receiving a milestone C decision from the Pentagon that will allow it to begin low-rate initial production in September. Current plans call for the initial operational test and evaluation to be conducted from October 2020 to April 2021. Delivery of the first HH-60W will follow in May 2021.
TACAIR F-5 COCKPIT UPGRADED
