US Army's New UH-60V Black Hawk Makes First Flight

The U.S. Army's new UH-60V Black Hawk helicopter featuring a digital cockpit has made its first flight, a company announced.

The chopper, basically a UH-60L upgraded with the new Integrated Avionics Suite, flew for the first time on Jan. 19 in Huntsville, Alabama, according to a release Monday from Northrop Grumman Corp. The base is home to the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command.

The utility rotorcraft is made by Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Sikorsky unit, but Northrop won a contract in 2014 to upgrade between 700 and 900 L models of the aircraft with the new cockpit design, which replaces older analogue gauges with digital electronic instrument displays. The technology is already included in UH-60M production models.

"This UH-60V first flight accomplishment reaffirms our open, safe and secure cockpit solutions that will enable the most advanced capabilities for warfighters," Ike Song, vice president of mission solutions at Northrop, said in a statement.

The Falls Church, Virginia-based company won the Army deal over such competitors as Lockheed Martin, Elbit Systems and Rockwell Collins, according to an Aviation Week report at the time.

The new system is nearly identical to the UH-60M interface, according to Northrop. The technology is designed to comply with the Federal Aviation Administration and European Aviation Safety Agency's Global Air Traffic Management requirements for military and civilian airspace around the world, the company said.

The Army a decade ago began receiving UH-60M variants featuring the new digital cockpits. The M model is the most advanced variant of the helicopter and remains in production.

The UH-60M marked a major change from the 25-year old UH-60L model Black Hawk with the addition of an all-digital avionics suite. The same technology is being added as part of an effort to upgrade L variants of the aircraft to V models. (Photo courtesy Lockheed Martin's Sikorsky unit)