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MH-6J TRANSPORT HELICOPTER

Hot Link: MH-6J Photos

Photo: MH-6 from the 160th SOAR ferries US Army Rangers into the LZ.

Mission

The MH-6J is a single engine light utility helicopter that has been modified to externally transport up to six combat troops and their equipment and is capable of conducting overt and covert infiltrations, exfiltrations, and combat assaults over a wide variety of terrain and environmental conditions (see Table 3-2). It is also used for command and control and reconnaissance missions. Its small size allows for rapid deployability in C-130, C-141, C-17 and C-5 transport aircraft. Aircraft modifications and aircrew training allow for extremely rapid upload and download times.

Mission Equipment

· Communications: The MH-6J avionics package consists of FM, UHF, VHF, Motorola Saber, and SATCOM. All are secure capable.

· The basic MH-6 configuration consists of the External Personnel System mounted on each side of the aircraft, for a total of six external and two internal seating positions.

· The aircraft can be rapidly configured for Fastrope and STABO operations. Motorcycle racks provide the capability to insert and extract up to 2 motorcycles.

· Forward Looking Infrared Radar (FLIR): Some aircraft are equipped with FLIR, which is a passive system that provides an infrared image of terrain features and ground or airborne objects of interest. Images may be recorded for playback on a standard VHS video cassette recorder.

· Defensive systems. Each aircraft is equipped with the APR 39 Radar Warning Receiver System, which detects and identifies hostile search/acquisition and fire control radars and provides audio and video alerts to the flight crew.

 

Deployability

· The MH-6 can be deployed by any Air Force transport aircraft. A C-141 is capable of transporting up to 6 MH-6s and a C-130 is able to transport up to 3 MH-6s, with a rapid upload/offload capability. MH-6s can offload, build up, and depart within 15 minutes.

· Self-deployment is unlimited with refuel support at ground or surface vessel locations every 270 NM.