US Army carries out UH-60V testing
The US Army has concluded operational testing of the UH-60V Black Hawk helicopter cockpit upgrade.
The UH-60V Black Hawk capability will be a retrofit for the army's remaining UH-60L helicopter fleet's analogue cockpits, integrating a digital cockpit similar to the one used in the UH-60M, and three examples were used for this operational testing.
The US Army Operational Test Command's (OTC) Aviation Test Directorate worked with aircrews from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, 16th Combat Aviation Brigade, to apply realistic operational missions, post-mission surveys and after-action reviews, along with onboard video and audio instrumentation to collect data directly from crewmembers.
Instrumentation installed by the Redstone Test Center (RTC) in Alabama provided audio, video and position data for test team to review after each mission, and aircrews flew over 120h throughout the testing.
They conducted air movement, air assault, external load and casualty evacuation missions under day, night, night-vision goggle, and simulated instrument meteorological modes of flight, the army says.
‘The OTC/RTC partnership has been paramount to the successful testing and evaluation of the UH-60V,’ Derek Muller, UH-60V IOT test officer at the OTC’s Aviation Test Directorate, said.
‘The data collected during the test will support an independent evaluation by the US Army Evaluation Center.’
The evaluation will inform a full-rate production decision from the Utility Helicopter Program Office at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, the army notes.
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