Story ID: 
Options Grow for Civil Black Hawks
By: Mark Huber
Caption: Remote piloting and HUMS join list of capabilities available for civil Sikorsky UH-60 helicopters.
Word Count: 240
The list of aftermarket options for Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters continues to grow as more of these aircraft find their way onto the civil market. 
Earlier this month, Rain Industries demonstrated the ability to remotely command a UH-60 via satellite link from its California command center to a helicopter located in Tennessee. With a safety pilot aboard, the aircraft self-dispatched and flew to a hypothetical destination as part of a fire-response demonstration. “This is a critical first proof-of-concept to illustrate how our software will allow uncrewed aircraft to support firefighting missions,” said Ephraim Nowak, Rain’s chief engineer. The demonstration flight is one of several scheduled projects with customer fire agencies scheduled in 2023, Rain said. 
Meanwhile, Black Widow Helicopters, a company that specializes in modifying Black Hawks for the civil market, announced an order for 12 shipsets of GPMS Foresight MX health and usage monitoring systems and announced it had become a certified GPMS installer. Black Widow modernizes civil Black Hawks with a variety of equipment including touchscreen glass cockpits, the BLR FastFin system, external ventral tank, upgraded exhaust systems, rescue hoists, and new paint and interior.
Black Widow selected the Foresight system due to its ability to reduce overall operating costs which translates into “increased aircraft availability,’ said Alex Freidin, Black Widow v-p of commercial and flight operations.