Tag Archives: sikorsky

Technology

Indian Air Power, 2021

Video

Incomplete images of India’s current state of Air Power.

Indian C-17 on Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, 20NOV2020. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Christopher Quail.

Indian Air Force promo:

Indian Navy Harrier

U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Matthew Hannen, 30JUL2007.

Jaguar/Shamsher

U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Matthew Hannen, 30JUL2007.

USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Shawn Nickel, 29APR2016.

USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Joshua Turner, 02MAY2016.

(INDIA DEVELOPS RARE EARTH ALLOY TO EXTEND LIFE OF COLD WAR STRIKE AIRCRAFT!)

Radar equipped Shamsher leads U.S. Super Hornets and Indian Su-30MKIs. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Second Class Brandie Nuzzi, 28MAR2021.

Shamsher, MiG-29KUB and Su-30MKI, 23JUN2021, USN photo.

In the above photo notice the Indian two seat MiG-29KUBs are not simple trainers, but have full combat radar system and a different cockpit area.

Link to video of MiG-29K and Harrier fly by:

https://youtu.be/nHI0blqggFI

2010, Indian Naval Station Hansa in Goa, India.

MiG-29K overflies USS Nimitz (CVN 68) in the Bay of Bengal during Exercise Malabar 2017.

Flying with U.S. Navy Super Hornets, 2017.

Indian Navy Aérospatiale Alouette-3 (Chetak) over Goa, August 2017.

Chetak (Aérospatiale Alouette-3). USN photo by Mass Communication Specialist Second Class Brandie Nuzzi, 28MAR2021.

Onboard USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52).

Indian CH-47F, first flight July 2018:

(INDIAN HERCULES APPEARS IN NORTH DAKOTA, 2018)

In 2018, Indian P-8A Poseidon (militarized Boeing 737) took part in Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

HAL license built Dornier 228 and Hawk-i, and HAL HTT-40, airshow Aero India 2019.

Video, HAL Tejas:

Su-30MKI and HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) Tejas,  airshow Aero India 2019.

Su-30MKI, RED FLAG-Alaska, May 2016.

Video, Su-30 leads integrated flight of Jaguar, Mirage 2000 and U.S. F-15s:

Video, Su-30MKI bombing run:

(VEHICLE I-D: SUKHOI 27/30)

HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) attack helicopter, airshow Aero India 2019.

HAL Dhruv helicopter demo team, airshow Aero India 2019.

Mil 8, airshow Aero India 2019, Air Force Station Yelahanka, Bengaluru.

(CH-47 CHINOOK COLLECTS MIL 8 ‘HIP’ BONES)

Indian Navy Mil 17(171), November 2019, exercise Tiger TRIUMPH in Kakinada.

Indian Navy Sikorsky UH-3H Sea King, November 2019, exercise Tiger TRIUMPH in Kakinada.

Video, Sea King Helicopter lands on the flight deck of the USS Germantown (LSD 42), exercise Tiger TRIUMPH:

MiG-21, Defense Expo 2020.

Video, MiG-21 ‘Night Fighter’:

Video, Alouette ‘Cheetah’ part-1:

Video, Cheetah part-2:

Video promo, IAF Mirage 2000 fighters:

Technology

Wash your Hawk!

Image

USS Detroit (LCS 7), Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 22, MH-60S ‘Knight’ Hawk, somewhere in the Caribbean, March 2020.

USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115), Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 49, MH-60R Sea Hawk, somewhere in the Indo-Pacific, February 2020.

Washing your Hawk not only keeps dust-n-dirt from building up, it prevents corrosion.

Charlie Company, 2-238th General Aviation Support Battalion (Medevac), UH-60 Black Hawk, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, November 2019.

USS Bataan (LHD 5), Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 28, MH-60S ‘Knight’ Hawk, somewhere in the Atlantic, November 2019.

31st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 56th Helicopter Maintenance Unit, HH-60G Pave Hawk, Aviano Air Base, Italy, October 2019.

Picky, picky, picky.    USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 74, somewhere in the mid-Atlantic, September 2019.

Cleaning up after cleaning up,  1st Assault Helicopter Battalion, 150th Aviation Regiment, New Jersey Army National Guard, July 2019.

Don’t forget to brush your teeth!

USS Bainbridge (DDG 96), Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 46, MH-60R Sea Hawk, somewhere in the U.S. 5th, 6th and 7th Fleet ‘areas of responsibility’, April 2019.

USS Nitze (DDG 94), Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 46, MH-60R Sea Hawk, somewhere in the U.S. 5th, 6th and 7th Fleet ‘areas of responsibility’, April 2019.

Wipe that ass!

USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 14, MH-60S ‘Knight’ Hawk, somewhere in Philippine Sea, November 2018.

41st Helicopter Maintenance Unit, HH-60G Pave Hawk, Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, February 2018.  USAF requires helicopter wash every 180 days.

 

BLACK HAWKS SWARM SUPER BOWL-54

IDAHO BLACK HAWKS HEAD SOUTH, DOWN CENTRAL AMERICA WAY

BLADE FOLDING ARMY BLACK HAWKS

VEHICLE I-D: BLACK HAWK WITH SKIS

VEHICLE ID: NEW HH-60M BLACK HAWK FOR HAWAIIAN MILITIA MEDEVAC

Technology

Blade folding Army Black Hawks

Video

U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Sharon Matthias, 10SEP2019.

U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Sharon Matthias, 10SEP2019.

U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Sharon Matthias, 10SEP2019.

U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Sharon Matthias, 10SEP2019.

Video, folding UH-60 blades for loading onto C-17 Globemaster, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, 09SEP2019:

U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Sharon Matthias, 10SEP2019.

U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Sharon Matthias, 10SEP2019.

U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Sharon Matthias, 10SEP2019.

Video, UH-60 blade folding for loading onto boats, Kuwait, 27APR2019:

Idaho blade folding: IDAHO BLACK HAWKS HEAD SOUTH, DOWN CENTRAL AMERICA WAY, YOU PAID FOR IT!

VEHICLE I-D: CBP’S BLACK HELICOPTERS DEPLOY TO PUERTO RICO, QUICK MINICRAFT REVIEW

MILITIA UH-60L LOOSES WINDSHIELD AT NTC!

SOUTH CAROLINA MILITIA’S SWITCH-BLADE APACHE

Kit Bashing, Technology

Hurricane Maria Vehicle I-D: CBP’s Black helicopters deploy to Puerto Rico, quick Minicraft kit review

Video

In Arizona, awaiting night time load-up into C-5 Galaxy, destine for Puerto Rico. Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 01OCT2017.

Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 02OCT2017.

Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 02OCT2017.

C-5 delivers the CBP UH-60s to Puerto Rico. Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 02OCT2017.

Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 03OCT2017.

Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 07OCT2017.

Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 07OCT2017.

Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 13OCT2017.

Minicraft first issued its 1:48 scale UH-60 kits in 1986.  In 2001, Minicraft re-boxed it as a U.S. Customs Black Hawk.  The box art, and even photos of completed kit on the sides of the box, depict it with a FLIR pod under the chin, but no such animal can be found on the sprues.  All you get is a crappy looking search light.  I’ll have to scratch build the FLIR, or steal it from a different helicopter kit.   Many of the Customs Black Hawks have the bent tip rotary wings, the Minicraft kit still has the straight blades from the 1980s.  The Minicraft markings are for U.S. Customs, which ceased to exist as an independent agency in 2003, merged with U.S. Border Patrol, and parts of Immigration and Naturalization Service, becoming today’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).  As you can see from the photos above, the CBP markings are slightly different from the old U.S. Customs markings, and today’s Black Hawk has an extended nose for housing the FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red) as well as mounts on the side of the cockpit for other electronic gadgets. The interior of the Minicraft UH-60 is devoid of details, but can be expeditiously improved using the old-but-gold Monogram crew figures from the still viable Monogram UH-1 Huey (interesting that the Monogram ‘copter first issued in 1959 is more detailed than the Minicraft ‘copter first issued in 1986).

PJ Production also has a new resin set of 1:48 U.S. helicopter crew figures, although they’re sold as Vietnam era crew figures I think they could be used for late Cold War Black Hawks.

IDAHO BLACK HAWKS HEAD SOUTH, DOWN CENTRAL AMERICA WAY, YOU PAID FOR IT!

VEHICLE I-D: BLACK HAWK WITH SKIS

RF-84F THUNDERFLASH & YRF-84F, AN APPEAL TO MONOGRAM!

Technology

Vehicle I-D: Black Hawk with Skis, ‘Hang Ten’

Video

Alaskan UH-60 Black Hawks with skis:

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Sean Evans, 15MAR2018.

Alaska Army National Guard photo by Specialist Michael Risinger, 09FEB2019.

This Alaska Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk is wearing just the tail ski. U.S. Air Force photo by Alejandro Peña, 30MAY2018.

The rear portion of the main skis can be lowered for hoisting operations. U.S. Air Force photo by Justin Connaher, 30JUL2016.

U.S. Air Force photo by Alejandro Peña, 21NOV2017.

Alaska Air National Guard photo by David Bedard, 05JUN2018.

Alaska Air National Guard photo by David Bedard, 05JUN2018.

Photo by John Pennell, 28NOV2017.

Video, aerial refueling March 2018:

 

U.S. Air Force photo by Alejandro Peña, 21NOV2017.

U.S. Air Force photo by Alejandro Peña, 29JUL2016.

U.S. Air Force photo by Alejandro Pena, 24FEB2015.

Video, Operation Rock and a Hard Place, March 2015:

‘Hang Ten’ was originally a symbol of surfing in late 1950s California, then becoming the logo of a surf-clothing company in the 1960s. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Joshua Turner, 20AUG2015.

‘Hang Ten’ video, people jumping out of a perfectly good helicopter with Hang Ten painted skies in the middle of an Alaskan Winter, 2014:

Video report, Arctic Care 2013:

U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sergeant Burt Traynor, 13JUN2019.

MILITIA UH-60L LOOSES WINDSHIELD AT NTC!

VEHICLE ID: UH-60 BLACK HAWK M240 LIVE FIRE, GRAFENWOEHR

BLACK HAWK DOWN JAPAN: U.S. ARMY TRAINS YOKOHAMA TO RESCUE DOWNED UH-60 CREWS

Technology

Vehicle I-D: CH-53K King Stallion

Video

Forget the CH-53 Super Stallion, there’s a new heavy lift Marine coming onboard; CH-53K King Stallion.

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Ethan Pumphret.

Marine Operational Test & Evaluation Squadron-1 load the main gear box of the new CH-53K King Stallion onto the aircraft, Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River, North Carolina, 03OCT2018.

USMC photo by Lance Corporal Samuel Lyden.

The first CH-53K King Stallion hovers above the flight line at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River, North Carolina, 16MAY2018.It’s not a rebuild, it’s completely new with reduced weight yet stronger construction, fly-by-wire, and able to lift three times more that the Super Stallion (externally transport 27-thousand pounds/12247 kilos over 110 nautical miles/127 miles/203.7km and has a max external lift of 36-thousand pounds/16329.3 kilos).  The most noticeable visual difference is the cockpit/nose section of the rotary wing aircraft.

USMC photo by Sergeant Matthew Callahan.

The first CH-53K King Stallion taxis across the flight line at MCAS New River, North Carolina, 16MAY2018.

Offical U.S. Marine Corps video explainer:

USMC photo by Lance Corporal Samuel Lyden.

Another video, MCAS New River, North Carolina, 16MAY2018:

USMC photo by Sergeant Matthew Callahan.

USMC photo by Lance Cpl. Leynard Kyle Plazo.

USMC photo by Corporal Hailey D. Clay.

USMC General checks out the new CH-53K at the Berlin Air Show, Berlin ExpoCenter Airport, Schönefeld, Deutschland, 25APR2018.

USMC photo by Corporal Hailey D. Clay.

Video of heavy lift demo at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, 18JAN2018:

USMC photo by Lance Corporal Molly Hampton.

Test flight over West Palm Beach, Florida, 22MAR2017.

Official video from April 2017:

USMC photo by Lance Corporal Molly Hampton.

By April 2017, the CH-53K had passed its Defense Acquisition Board assessment, and low-rate initial production began. The CH-53K is scheduled to completely replace the CH-53E Super Stallion by 2030.

USMC photo by Staff Sergeant Gabriela Garcia.

“Experimental” silly-vilian colors (and nose) at Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in Florida, 08MAR2016.

USMC photo by Staff Sergeant Gabriela Garcia.

Vehicle I-D: CH-53 SEA STALLION MCAS-YUMA, APRIL 2017

Technology

Vehicle I-D: CH-53 Sea Stallion, Cold War & beyond

Video

The CH-53 Sea Stallion (U.S. Air Force designation HH-53 Super Jolly Green Giant) was developed under Sikorsky’s S-65 program, the prototype first flew in 1964.

U.S. Marines pile out of their CH-53A, to begin a search and destroy operation 17 miles southeast of Phu Bai, Viet Nam, 18NOV1967.  The Vietnam era workhorse continues to serve and support the U.S. Marine Corps, as well as other countries including Iran.

The Imperial Iranian Navy bought, and received, six RH-53Ds just before the Revolution.  Apparently the RH vs CH designation denotes U.S. Navy (USN) vs U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) use of the Sea Stallion, the USN and Imperial Iran Navy using them primarily as minesweepers.

Iran ‘acquired’ five intact U.S. Marine CH-53Ds (former U.S. Navy RH-53Ds) due to the failed Eagle Claw operation, and has been able to get parts through international weapons dealers.

Fars News Agency photo by Hassan Mousavi.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Navy continues to upgrade the Sea Stallion, because they love it!

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Michaela R. Gregory.

CH-53E Super Stallion during Weapons and Tactics Instructor course, Yuma, Arizona, April 2017:

USMC photo by Lance Corporal Michaela R. Gregory.

Another video:

USMC photo Lance Corporal Clare J. Shaffer.

USMC photo Corporal Trever A. Statz.

USMC photo Corporal Trever A. Statz.

USMC photo by Lance Corporal Clare J. Shaffer.

 

VEHICLE I-D: AH-1Z USMC FARP

Technology

Vehicle I-D: New HH-60M Black Hawk for Hawaiian militia MEDEVAC

Video

Hawaii Air National Guard Photo By Technical Sergeant Andrew Jackson, 28OCT2016.

National Guard MEDEVAC, Detachment 1, Company G, 1st Battalion, 189th Aviation Regiment, Kalaeloa, Hawaii, offloads new HH-60M Black Hawks from C-17 Globemaster-3.   The HH-60M have an external hoist, a Forward Looking Infrared Radar (FLIR) and the capability to carry six patients:

Hawaii Air National Guard Photo By Technical Sergeant Andrew Jackson, 28OCT2016.

VEHICLE ID: UH-60 BLACK HAWK M240 LIVE FIRE, GRAFENWOEHR

BRAND NEW UH-60M: CANUCKS JOIN SNAKE RIVER MILITIA, AIR ASSAULT MOVE TO CONTACT, ROMANIA!

BLACK HAWK DOWN JAPAN: U.S. ARMY TRAINS YOKOHAMA TO RESCUE DOWNED UH-60 CREWS

OBAMA DISAPPEARS THE LAST OF IDAHO’S APACHES!

PAKISTAN TO GIVE CHINA DOWNED U.S. STEALTH BLACKHAWK

Technology

Vehicle I-D: CH-53 Stud USMC Arizona

Video

USMC Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment CH-53E Super Stallion during Weapons and Tactics Instructor course (WTI) at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, 07 October 2016:

2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division fast ropes out of a CH-53E Super Stallion at Auxiliary Airfield 2, Yuma, Arizona, 30 September 2016: