UH-60 Black Hawk

The UH-60 Black Hawk is an American twin-engine, single-main-rotor utility helicopter built by Sikorsky, developed to meet a United States Army requirement for a new tactical transport helicopter and entering service in 1979 as the replacement for the Vietnam War-era UH-1 Iroquois, or Huey. Designed to carry a full infantry squad along with improved survivability features drawn from Vietnam War combat lessons, including armor protection for the crew and critical systems and an airframe designed to progressively crush and absorb energy in a crash rather than transmitting the full impact to the occupants, the Black Hawk became the United States Army's standard tactical transport and utility helicopter across a wide range of variants, including armed and special-operations versions. The type saw extensive combat service from the 1989 invasion of Panama and the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, depicted in the book and film Black Hawk Down, through the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and derivatives of the design remain in production and in service with dozens of countries.