Modern Helicopters - The SH-60B Seahawk
The SH-60B Seahawk is a helicopter flown by the United States Navy.
It performs a number of roles includinganti-submarine warfare (ASW), surface search and control, anti-ship warfare, search and rescue and passenger and cargo delivery.
The SH-60B is a variant of the Army UH-60 Blackhawk and the Coast Guards HH-60 Jayhawk.
The Seahawk is a twin engine, single rotor aircraft built by Sikorsky Helicopter.
It's powered by two General Electric T700-GE-401C turbo-shaft engines that produce 1950 SHP (shaft horsepower) each.
The helicopter is based both on land bases and aboard ships but its primarily operated from Navycruisers, destroyers and frigates.
The Seahawk has a maximum speed of 185 kts and is able to stay aloft up to four hours depending on the mission and the load out.
The Seahawk usually patrols an area in excess of 100 miles away from its mother ship.
It's able to extend the battle groups eyes and ears.
For ASW missions the Seahawk carries a mix of sonobuoys and torpedoes.
Sonobuoys are underwater microphones that allow the helicopter's crew to hear noises in the water that they can then classify as being a submarine.
Sonobuoys can be passive (listening only) or active (similar to radar-transmits a sound through the water and waits for it to bounce off of an object to determine position and range).
The Seahawk is able to carry both the older Mark 46 torpedoes and the newer Mark 50s.
For anti-ship missions the Seahawk has the ability to carry anti-ship missiles such as the AGM-119 Penguin and the AGM-114 Hellfire.
The Seahawk is a LAMPS (Light Airborne Multipurpose System) capable aircraft which means it's able to fully integrate its electronic sensors which include radar, ESM (Electronic Support Measures), FLIR (Forward Looking Infra Red), passive radar detection, and sonobuoys with vessels in the battle group.
In essence whatever the Seahawk "sees" or "hears" the battle group or individual ships within the battle group can "see" and "hear".
Additionally, personnel onboard the ship are able to operate the Seahawks sensors remotely.
This makes the Seahawk an invaluable tool for searching, identifying,targeting, and attacking enemy combatant ships.
For search and rescue missions the Seahawk is able to carry a variety of rescue and life support gear.
The Seahawk is crewed by three people, two pilots and a sensor operator.
Most military helicopters operate with two pilots which provides an additional margin of safety when operating day and night, in all weather conditions, performing the demanding missions of the US Navy.
The sensor operator performs a variety of duties which include operating the radar and MAD (magnetic anomaly detection) gear, receiving, interpreting, and relaying sonobuoy data, and performs rescues when the helicopter is tasked for that mission.
The SH-60B Seahawk greatly increases the weapons delivery and intelligence gathering capability of the US Navy.
It performs a number of roles includinganti-submarine warfare (ASW), surface search and control, anti-ship warfare, search and rescue and passenger and cargo delivery.
The SH-60B is a variant of the Army UH-60 Blackhawk and the Coast Guards HH-60 Jayhawk.
The Seahawk is a twin engine, single rotor aircraft built by Sikorsky Helicopter.
It's powered by two General Electric T700-GE-401C turbo-shaft engines that produce 1950 SHP (shaft horsepower) each.
The helicopter is based both on land bases and aboard ships but its primarily operated from Navycruisers, destroyers and frigates.
The Seahawk has a maximum speed of 185 kts and is able to stay aloft up to four hours depending on the mission and the load out.
The Seahawk usually patrols an area in excess of 100 miles away from its mother ship.
It's able to extend the battle groups eyes and ears.
For ASW missions the Seahawk carries a mix of sonobuoys and torpedoes.
Sonobuoys are underwater microphones that allow the helicopter's crew to hear noises in the water that they can then classify as being a submarine.
Sonobuoys can be passive (listening only) or active (similar to radar-transmits a sound through the water and waits for it to bounce off of an object to determine position and range).
The Seahawk is able to carry both the older Mark 46 torpedoes and the newer Mark 50s.
For anti-ship missions the Seahawk has the ability to carry anti-ship missiles such as the AGM-119 Penguin and the AGM-114 Hellfire.
The Seahawk is a LAMPS (Light Airborne Multipurpose System) capable aircraft which means it's able to fully integrate its electronic sensors which include radar, ESM (Electronic Support Measures), FLIR (Forward Looking Infra Red), passive radar detection, and sonobuoys with vessels in the battle group.
In essence whatever the Seahawk "sees" or "hears" the battle group or individual ships within the battle group can "see" and "hear".
Additionally, personnel onboard the ship are able to operate the Seahawks sensors remotely.
This makes the Seahawk an invaluable tool for searching, identifying,targeting, and attacking enemy combatant ships.
For search and rescue missions the Seahawk is able to carry a variety of rescue and life support gear.
The Seahawk is crewed by three people, two pilots and a sensor operator.
Most military helicopters operate with two pilots which provides an additional margin of safety when operating day and night, in all weather conditions, performing the demanding missions of the US Navy.
The sensor operator performs a variety of duties which include operating the radar and MAD (magnetic anomaly detection) gear, receiving, interpreting, and relaying sonobuoy data, and performs rescues when the helicopter is tasked for that mission.
The SH-60B Seahawk greatly increases the weapons delivery and intelligence gathering capability of the US Navy.
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