During the late 1960's, the US Army began development of a new helicopter to replace its UH-1 Iroquois. Drawing upon the lessons of Vietnam as well as the need of simpler maintenance requirements, the Army required significant performance, survivability and reliability improvements in comparison to the UH-I as well as deal with a new turbine engine in development for use in different types of helicopters. Another requirement would be that the C-130 Hercules cargo transport planes would be able to transport the helicopter in its cargo hold whenever the US military would have to quickly establish itself overseas.
Developed by the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, the UH-60 is the military designation version of the S-70 family of helicopters. It entered the testing phase in 1974 with the US Army testing prototypes of it against other competitors for the next two years before choosing the UH-60 in 1976 and accepting it into service in 1979 with the US Army's 101st "Screaming Eagles" airborne division being the helicopter's first users.
Throughout its service life, the UH-60 has undergone numerous modifications that allow it to adapt to a wide variety of different threats and combat operations. Amongst one of those modifications is the ability to give the UH-60 a "stealthy" profile which the US military would use in Special Forces raids.
Named for a legendary Indian war chief who fought against the United States during the War of 1812, the UH-60 Black Hawk saw its first action during the 1983 invasion of Granada. Afterwards it would see action in all the major US military engagements whether they'd be war or peacekeeping operations from the last decade of the 20th century to the present day.
In 2014, the craft saw a much different assignment. As the male MUTO advanced on Honolulu International Airport, numerous UH-60 helicopters were dispatched to the area. The crafts ventured out to the forest to survey the MUTO feasting on a Russian sub that had been brought on land. These copters were quickly taken out, though, by an EMP released by the monster.
As the MUTO traveled across the island, the beast managed to arrive at the Honolulu International Airport. Here two UH-60 Black Hawks attacked the MUTO, unleashing machine gun fire on the creature. However, both were surprised by the appearance of Godzilla and before they could react, the male MUTO swiped them out of the sky. Their destruction set off a chain reaction of fires amongst the passenger jets at Honolulu International Airport, decimating most of the area.
Later, a squadron of UH-60s were sent to Las Vegas, Nevada. This time their target was the female MUTO, as they joined AH-64 Apache helicopters that launched missiles at the beast as it advanced. The weapons had no effect, though, as the MUTO ventured through the city and onward toward California.
Afterwards, for the remainder of the crisis, the UH-60 Black Hawks functioned more in transportation and medivac duties and were seen supporting in Oakland, California, in advance of the battle in San Francisco. |