MH-60G PAVE HAWK

The MH-60G Pave Hawk is a modern, medium-lift, special operations helicopter for missions requiring medium-to-long-range infiltration, exfiltration, and resupply of special operations forces on land or sea. In addition, the SOF-unique mission equipment allows this aircraft to be used for recovery of injured special operations personnel. The MH-60G is equipped with forward-looking infrared radar to better enable the crew to follow terrain contours and avoid obstacles at night. The Air Force has 55 Pave Hawks in the active component and 25 in the Reserves.

MH-60G Specifications

· Builder: Sikorsky

· Power Plant: 2 General Electric T700-GE or T700-GE-01C engines

· Thrust: 1,560-1,630 shaft horsepower each engine

· Length: 64.8 ft (17.1 meters)

· Height: 16.8 ft (4.4 meters)

· Rotary Diameter: 53.7 ft (14.1 meters)

· Speed: 184 mph

· Maximum Takeoff Weight: 22,000 lbs

· Range: 450 nautical miles (unlimited with aerial refueling)

· Armament: Two 7.62mm miniguns

· Crew: Two officers (pilots); two enlisted (flight engineer and gunner)

 

Mission

The MH-60G's primary wartime missions are infiltration, exfiltration and resupply of special operations forces in day, night, or marginal weather conditions. Other missions include combat search and rescue. The MH-60G, a highly modified variant of the UH-60A Black Hawk, offers increased capability in range (endurance), navigation, communications, and defensive systems. The MH-60G can be deployed to support a full range of special air warfare activities to include special operations, psychological operations, and civil affairs.

EQUIPMENT

Navigation Equipment

MH-60G navigation equipment includes:

· Integrated navigation computer system consisting of a ring-laser inertial navigation system

· Global positioning system

· Doppler navigation system

· TACAN

· KG-10 map display unit

· Weather avoidance radar

 

The MH-60G also includes a navigation system interfaced forward looking infrared (FLIR) system and a voice altitude warning system to provide enhanced terrain clearance operations. A Personnel Locator System (PLS) is installed to enhance locating and identifying ground forces for extraction.

Special/Auxiliary Equipment

· All the MH-60Gs have an automatic flight control system to stabilize the aircraft in typical flight altitudes. They also have instrumentation and engine and rotor blade anti- ice systems for all-weather operation.

· Internal cargo tie down rings, a rescue hoist, and an "H-bar" installation are standard equipment as insertion/extraction devices for hoist, fast rope, rappelling, stabo, and SPIE rig operations.

· The Pave Hawk can also be equipped with the external stores support system.

· To extend their range, the Pave Hawks are equipped with a retractable in-flight refueling probe and internal auxiliary fuel tanks. Pave Hawks are equipped with a rescue hoist with a 250-foot cable with a 600-pound capacity.

· External loads can be carried on an 8,000-pound capacity cargo hook. For shipboard operations and to ease air transportability Pave Hawks are equipped with folding rotor blades and tail stabilator.

· Communication systems include secure HF, UHF, HAVE QUICK UHF, and FM radios as well as SATCOM and digital data burst system.

 

Defensive Equipment

· ALQ-144 infrared countermeasures (IRCM) system

· Hover infrared suppression system

· improved flare and chaff dispensing systems

 

 

Defensive Armaments

Defensive armaments include a forward cabin-mounted 7.62mm miniguns firing either 2,000 or 4,000 rpm and cabin-mounted .50-cal machine guns. With the addition of the external stores support system (ESSS), the aircraft can carry fixed forward-firing armaments for use as a defensive and escort aircraft. Each ESSS wing can carry two 7 or 19-shot, 2.75-inch folding fin aerial rocket pods or dual 20mm cannons/.50-cal machine guns.

Employment

The MH-60G can be successfully employed in the low-to-medium threat environment. As the level of threat increases above this, the chance of detection will increase, decreasing the probability of success. The probability of success will also decrease as the total number of aircraft in the mission increase due to an increased chance of detection (i.e., larger multi-ship or dissimilar type formations). The requirement to operate from a Forward Area Arming and Refueling Point (FAARP) will also decrease the probability of success due to the extended exposure time.

The MH-60G will operate at low altitudes over land and water. The aircraft will normally be employed as part of a larger vertical-lift package, which may require dissimilar multi-ship formations. The MH-60G will operate into unprepared, unlighted, uncontrolled landing zones 50

meters or larger in diameter.

Deployment

The MH-60G can be deployed by airlift, sea-lift, or self-deployed. The preferred deployment option is airlift using a C-5, and is essential if rapid deployment is required. A C-5 can transport a maximum of five MH-60Gs. The aircraft can be broken down for shipment in less than 1 hour and off-loaded and rebuilt at the location in less than 2 hours. The optimum deployment package is four MH-60Gs via C-5. Due to the rapid tear down and buildup times, it is normally faster to air transport the aircraft rather than self-deploy when distances exceed 1,500 NM using aerial refueling, or 1,000 NM using ground refueling. Deployments can be worldwide using a main base or a limited/standby base with host support. Deployments can be conducted in a deceptive or low-visibility mode. The number of aircraft required and the time phasing after notification are specified in other sources. Self-deployment utilizing aerial refueling assets requirements are:

· One tanker aircraft, plus one spare, per four MH-60Gs.

· Two tanker aircraft, plus one spare, per six MH-60Gs or sea in marginal weather conditions using minimum/no communications.

 

Planning Considerations

The time required to adequately plan for a mission varies with the complexity and length of the mission (i.e., flight time, number of other aircraft, types of aircraft involved in the formation, threat, and location of the objective). As a general rule of thumb, comprehensive mission planning requires a minimum of 6 hours. Ideally, a tasking arrives while the crews are in crew rest, and primary mission planning is accomplished by unit mission planners. The crews arrive approximately 3 hours prior to their mission departure time and fine tune the planning.

Weather Minimums

The MH-60G is designed to operate in a variety of weather conditions. Due to the use of night optical devices (NVGs and FLIR) and color weather radar, the aircraft can operate in very low- visibility conditions with low cloud ceilings. However, the MH-60G is a visual meteorological conditions (VMC) platform with weather avoidance capability.

Fuel Endurance and Performance

Mission endurance is increased through the use of an air refueling probe for inflight aerial refueling. In addition, the aircraft can be ground refueled using pressure or gravity feed systems at forward area arming and refueling points (FAARPS) or onboard ships. The MH-60G has a choice of internal auxiliary fuel tanks for extended range operations. The aircraft can be equipped with either the single, 117-gallon tank, offering 3.3 hours of aircraft operations, or the dual, 185-gallon tanks, offering 4.5 hours of unrefueled operations.

Mission Effectiveness

Mission effectiveness is highly dependent upon accurate, complete, all-source, real-time intelligence. The MH-60G has weather avoidance radar, but this equipment does not replace the use of detailed, highly accurate, timely weather forecasts for pre-mission planning.

Troop/Aircraft Load Capacity

The aircraft is capable of transporting 12 combat-equipped troops in an alternate loading configuration without internal auxiliary fuel tanks. With internal fuel tanks installed, maximum troop capacity is 10, with an optimum load of 6.

Aircrew

Crew Qualification. Aircrews maintain qualification in night vision goggle (NVG) tactical operations, NVG aerial refueling, NVG shipboard operations, and NVG overwater operations to include rubber boat deployment ("low and slow"), fast rope infiltration, and hoist or rope ladder exfiltration. Standard Crew: 2 pilots, 2 flight engineers (or 1 flight engineer and 1 aerial gunner).

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