The latest variant of the U.S. Army’s UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter has completed an initial operational test and evaluation at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, enabling the service branch to set requirements for the aircraft’s full rate production, DVIDS reported Friday.
Five UH-60V helicopters flew a total of more than 120 hours under realistic battlefield conditions during the three-week preliminary testing that began on July 5.
The Utility Helicopters Project Office then performed record testing from July 28 through Aug. 5, concluding with more than 200 flight hours in total.
The V-model Black Hawk utility helicopter replaces the Army’s legacy Black Hawk L-model helicopter fleet and includes a digital glass cockpit and integrated avionics suite.
The aircraft secured an Instrument Flight Rules certification to fly in national airspace at any time of the day and under instrumented meteorological conditions in April.
