Sikorsky has begun the final assembly process for the first HH-60W at its Stratford, Connecticut plant. It is the first of four engineering manufacturing development (EMD) aircraft for trials, and is expected to make its first flight around the end of the year. This would be two months ahead of schedule.
Under the $1.5 billion development contract, the four EMD machines are to be followed by five system demonstration test articles (SDTAs). Sikorsky is also contracted to deliver six training devices for aircrew and maintenance personnel, as well as instructional courseware. The training system passed a design review last September.
Based on the UH-60M Black Hawk, the HH-60W is being procured under the U.S. Air Force’s Combat Rescue Helicopter (CRH) program, with a stated requirement for 112 helicopters to replace aging HH-60G Pave Hawks that currently perform the combat search-and-rescue (CSAR) mission. As well as their primary operational role, they also undertake peacetime SAR and emergency relief duties.
As part of the final assembly process the HH-60Ws will receive a new Tactical Mission Kit (TMK) delivered from Lockheed Martin’s Owego, New York facility. The integration of sensors, radar, and multiple defense systems will bring added intelligence and situational awareness into the cockpit, giving pilots more information to make split-second decisions to complete their missions.
"The HH-60W will be the most thoroughly networked and connected vertical-lift platform ever produced, bringing unrivaled capability in high-threat environments," said Tim Healy, director of Sikorsky Air Force programs. "The modern battlespace is an unforgiving place, no one survives on their own, and the HH-60W allows the entire suite of air and space power to be linked and employed in support of combat rescue operations, even in deep and denied territory."
Another feature of the HH-60W is a new fuel system with two internal fuel tanks. With approximately 600 gallons, the internal fuel capacity is roughly twice that of a standard UH-60M. This extra range allows the HH-60W greater reach in its primary role of rescuing U.S. servicemen in combat and provides additional endurance and loiter time during complex rescues.
Selection of the Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky team to answer the CRH need was announced on June 26, 2014, but the requirement for a new CSAR platform reaches back to the early 2000s, when the troubled CSAR-X program was launched. This carried a price of $10- to $15 billion, and was intended to procure 141 large helicopters. Sikorsky competed with the S-92, but the contract was awarded to Boeing’s HH-47 Chinook-based proposal, leading to protests and the re-opening of bidding. CSAR-X was cancelled in 2009, to be replaced by another, less-ambitious competition, known initially as HH-60 Recapitalization and later as CRH. This was launched in 2011. Four of the interested potential suppliers opted not to bid, leaving Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky the only contender.