HH-60W combat rescue helicopter to enter production
NewsSeptember 25, 2019
STRATFORD, Conn. Lockheed Martin announced the Sikorsky HH-60W Combat Rescue Helicopter (CRH) program achieved a Milestone C decision from the U.S. Air Force, which moves the program into low-rate initial production. The CRH will perform critical combat search and rescue and personnel recovery operations for all U.S. military services.
The four instrumented test aircraft at the Sikorsky Development Flight Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., demonstrated their production readiness during U.S. Air Force performance and flight load survey testing. This decision allows Sikorsky to begin production of the aircraft.
There are five CRH aircraft in various stages of production at Sikorsky's Stratford facility. The Air Force program of record calls for 113 helicopters to replace its predecessor, the Sikorsky HH-60G Pave Hawks.
The CRH hosts a new fuel system that is intended to nearly double the capacity of the internal tank on a UH-60M Black Hawk and aims to improve defensive systems and reduce vulnerability.
