THE US NAVY HAS test-launched Rockwell Hellfire missiles from a Sikorsky HH-60 Seahawk as part of a programme to mount the laser-guided anti-armour weapon on some of its combat-rescue HH-60Hs and anti-submarine SH-60Bs.
Three ground and three airborne firings were conducted at the Navy's Patuxent River, Maryland, test centre. All six resulted in direct hits. The helicopter was equipped with a Rockwell-built M299 launcher for the trials. This launcher was developed for the US Army's McDonnell Douglas AH-64D Longbow Apache, and will carry all Hellfire versions.
Integration of the Hellfire on the HH-60H is scheduled to begin in May-June, and will be followed in 1996 by integration on the SH-60B. The Navy then plans to buy some M299 launchers. It already has Hellfires in the inventory to arm US Marine Corps Bell AH-1W SuperCobras.
The USN plans to equip several Seahawks with nose-mounted Texas Instruments AAS-44 forward-looking infra-red sensors with laser-designators to give them the contingency capability to fire Hellfire missiles.
Source: Flight International