Los Angeles County Fire Department
The Los Angeles County Fire Department provides firefighting and emergency medical services for the unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County, California, as well as 59 cities, including the city of La Habra, located in Orange County and is the first city outside of Los Angeles County to contract with LACoFD. As of 2013 the department is responsible for just over 4 million residents spread out in over 1.2 million housing units across an area of 2,305 square miles. The department has an annual budget of $1.15 Billion. According to Firehouse magazine, the LACoFD is the 6th busiest department in the US, behind New York City Fire Department, Chicago Fire Department, Houston Fire Department, Los Angeles City Fire Department, Dallas Fire Department; the Department responded to 389,313 calls for service in 2015. The LACoFD has featured several times in popular culture, including the 1970s NBC TV series Emergency! The Los Angeles County Fire Department began in 1920, was known as the Los Angeles County Forestry Department and Los Angeles County Fire Protection Districts.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors enlisted Stuart J. Flintham to lead the new department, directed him to establish a program for fire prevention and firefighting in the county, he succeeded in opening 30 Fire Protection Districts, which served, continue to serve and the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Cities could choose to join the Fire Protection District by allocating property tax for this service. Cities formed as contract cities in the post-World War II period retained membership in the Fire Protection District. Following the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, property taxes were capped at 1% and the Fire Department charged cities fees for services when annexation occurred. Properties within the district that are not covered under a fee for service arrangement pay a special fire tax as a result of Proposition E, passed in 1997. County vehicles assigned to the Los Angeles County Fire Department continue to list as registered owner the "Consolidated Fire Protection District of Los Angeles County" on California Department of Motor Vehicles paperwork.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department Emergency Operations are commanded by Chief Deputy David R. Richardson; the 4 Bureaus that the Chief Deputy oversees contain the bulk of the firefighting personnel and apparatus that the Fire Department provides, as well as the Technical Services Division. The 3 Operations Bureaus consist of the neighborhood fire stations and camps that are geographically based, while the fourth bureau has specialized teams that respond throughout the county; the 3 Operations Bureaus of LACoFD serve 59 cities and all unincorporated communities with 22 Battalions and 9 Divisions. Each Division is commanded by an assistant chief; the LACoFD has 10 fire camps with handcrews which are used for both fire prevention and wildland firefighting. In 2013, to help combat jail crowding as well as increase time served by serious criminal offenders, Los Angeles County sent more than 500 inmates to firefighting camps in mountain and foothill areas. Inmates assigned to the camps are nonviolent offenders who have completed physical and security screenings.
They are trained by county firefighters to help fight fires and assist with clearing brush and debris. The camps are run in conjunction with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Los Angeles County Probation Department; the Los Angeles County Fire Department utilizes a wide array of firefighting apparatus, including Engines, Trucks, Light Forces and Water Tenders. Support apparatus include Rescue Squads, Hazardous Materials Squads, Urban Search & Rescue Squads. LACoFD apparatus are painted reddish-orange as opposed to LAFD apparatus red. While many modern fire departments have opted to go with trucks/quints that have rear-mounted ladders, the LACoFD has chosen to stay with tiller trucks because of their enhanced maneuverability in tight areas; the benefit of a quint is that it has a built in pump and water tank and can thus operate without an engine. The LA County Fire Department has 10 helicopters available for aerial firefighting. With the exception of Copter 10, used for command purposes, all copters are outfitted with water drop tanks for aerial firefighting.
The headquarters for the Air Operations Section is located at Barton Heliport, next to Whiteman Airport in Pacoima. Five Sikorsky S-70A/S-70i Firehawks Copter 15, Copter 16, Copter 19, Copter 21, Copter 22 are fitted with 1,000 US gallons tanks. One Bell 412 Copter 12 is fitted with a 360 US gallons tank. Two Bell 412EP Copter 11 and Copter 14 are outfitted with 360 US gallons tanks. Two Bell 412HP Copter 17 and Copter 18 are outfitted with 360 US gallons tanks; as of March 2019 The LACoFD is dispatched from the P. Michael Freeman Command And Control Facility at the county fire operations center in East Los Angeles; the Los Angeles County Fire Department has been featured in multiple different television series. Rescue 8 – The syndicated series of the late 1950s focused on Rescue Squad 8 and starred Jim Davis and Lang Jeffries. Emergency! – The NBC series of the 1970s dramatized a department paramedic rescue squad, popularly credited for encouraging the widespread adaptation of the medical service.
The exterior fire station scenes for the fictional station 51 in the series were shot at county fire station 127. It is now called the Robert A. Cinader Memorial Fire Station in honor of the television producer who made the station famous. In addition, the fire station in Universal City, where Universal Pictures is located, who
Rescue
Rescue comprises responsive operations that involve the saving of life, or prevention of injury during an incident or dangerous situation. Tools used might include search and rescue dogs, mounted search and rescue horses, the "jaws of life", other hydraulic cutting and spreading tools used to extricate individuals from wrecked vehicles. Rescue operations are sometimes supported by special vehicles such as fire department's or EMS heavy rescue vehicle. Ropes and special devices can reach and remove individuals and animals from difficult locations including: Air-sea rescue Cave rescue Combat search and rescue Confined space rescue Helicopter rescue basket Mine rescue Rope rescue Search and rescue Ski patrol Surface water rescue Swiftwater rescue Urban search and rescue Vehicle extrication WildernessRescue operations require a high degree of training and are performed by rescue squads, either independent or part of larger organizations such as fire, military, first aid, or ambulance services.
In the U. S. they are staffed by medically trained personnel as NFPA regulations require it. In former centuries the word "rescue" had other meanings: for example, there is an old record of a countryman living where Wythenshawe is now, being prosecuted in a local court for "making rescue" of a pig, seized as a distress for non-payment of money owed. Animal rescue Civil defense Diver rescue Emergency management Extraction International Rescue Corps Lifeboat Rescue robot Technical rescue Vehicle extrication The dictionary definition of rescue at Wiktionary Media related to Rescue at Wikimedia Commons
Marine One
Marine One is the call sign of any United States Marine Corps aircraft carrying the President of the United States. It denotes a helicopter operated by Marine Helicopter Squadron One, either the large Sikorsky VH-3D Sea King or the newer, smaller VH-60N "White Hawk". Both helicopters are called "White Tops" because of their livery. Any Marine Corps aircraft carrying the Vice President has the call sign Marine Two; the first use of helicopters for transporting the President was in 1957, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower traveled on a Bell UH-13J Sioux; the President needed a quick way to reach his summer home in Pennsylvania, as Air Force One could not land at the White House or the summer home. Eisenhower instructed his staff to look into alternative modes of transportation and a Sikorsky UH-34 Seahorse helicopter was commissioned; the early aircraft lacked the "creature comforts" found on its modern successors, such as air conditioning and toilets for in-flight use. In 1958, the H-13 was replaced by the Sikorsky H-34, in 1961 by the VH-3A.
Not long after the mode of presidential transport was introduced, presidential aides asked the Marine Corps to look into the White House South Lawn as a helicopter landing zone. Ample room was present, the protocol was established; until 1976, the Marine Corps shared the responsibility of helicopter transportation for the President with the United States Army. Army helicopters used the call sign Army One; the VH-3D entered service in 1978. The VH-60N entered service in 1987 and has served alongside the VH-3D. Improvements were made to both types of helicopters since their introduction to both take advantage of technological developments as well as to meet new mission requirements. However, by about 2001, it was clear that so much extra weight had been added to the helicopters that mission capability was being reduced and few new improvements could be made. By 2009, there were eight VH-60Ns in service as Presidential/VIP helicopters. On 16 July 2009, Marine One flew with an all-female crew for the first time.
This was the final flight of Major Jennifer Grieves, the first woman pilot to fly the President. Marine One has not been the subject of any accident or attack through 2009. However, in 2006, President George W. Bush boarded Marine One with his departing press secretary, the ignition on Marine One's engines failed; the president was forced to depart the White House in an automobile. The September 11 attacks on the U. S. led to widespread agreement that the Marine One helicopter fleet needed significant upgrades to its communication and security systems. But these could not be made due to the weight added to the aircraft. In April 2002, the Department of Defense initiated the VXX program to develop a new presidential/VIP helicopter transportation system; the helicopter program was assigned to the U. S. Navy. A delivery date of 2011 was set. In November 2002, the White House asked the Secretary of Defense to accelerate the development of the new aircraft, DOD said it would have a new aircraft ready by the end of 2008.
To do so, DOD asked companies bidding on the aircraft design to begin development and production at the same time. Specifications for the new aircraft were kept secret. Industry publications and testimony at congressional briefings revealed, that the helicopter was to be 64 feet long, carry 14 passengers, be able to carry several thousand pounds of baggage and gear, have a greater range than the VH-3D or VH-60N; the helicopter's defensive capabilities were to include a radar jamming and deception system to ward off anti-aircraft missiles, hardening of key electronics against nuclear electromagnetic pulse. It was to include an encrypted telecommunications system and videoconferencing. Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky Aircraft competed against one another for the contract. Lockheed partnered with AgustaWestland, a joint British and Italian aircraft company, offered a version of the AgustaWestland AW101. Sikorsky proposed using its S-92; the Navy awarded the contract to Lockheed Martin in January 2005, to develop and build 28 helicopters.
The helicopter was designated VH-71 Kestrel. Five of the initial less-sophisticated VH-71 version were due for delivery in 2010, with 23 of the upgraded version due for delivery in 2015; the goal was to retire all VH-3Ds and VH-60Ns along with the five initial VH-71s at that time, leaving the Marine One fleet with 23 helicopters. By March 2008, the $6.1 billion cost of the 28 helicopters had skyrocketed to $11.2 billion. Members of Congress were shocked to discover that each VH-71 would cost $400 million—more than a single Air Force One Boeing VC-25 airplane. Lockheed Martin blamed the Navy for the cost overruns, saying that more than 1,900 extra requirements were added to the project after the contract was signed; the Navy said. The company blamed having to redesign the VH-71 to Navy standards, an incomplete understanding by the Navy and Lockheed Martin on just how much retrofitting the civilian aircraft would need to meet the White House's specifications. In June 2009, the VH-71 program was canceled due to these cost overruns.
By this time, cost estimates had ballooned to more than $13 billion. The Government Accountability Office issued a report in March 2011 that pointed to three sources for the cost overruns. First, asking for development at the same time as production led to extensive retrofitting of built models. Second, a full-scale review of the system's requirements did not occur until four months after production started. Only was it discovered that the VH-71's design could not meet the system's needs. Third, DOD and the White House asked for excessive combat and communi
Anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Successful anti-submarine warfare depends on a mix of sensor and weapon technology and experience. Sophisticated sonar equipment for first detecting classifying and tracking the target submarine is a key element of ASW. To destroy submarines, both torpedos and naval mines are used, launched from air and underwater platforms. ASW involves protecting friendly ships; the first attacks on a ship by an underwater vehicle are believed to have been during the American Revolutionary War, using what would now be called a naval mine but what was called a torpedo, though various attempts to build submarines had been made before this. The first self-propelled torpedo was launched from surface craft; the first submarine with a torpedo was Nordenfelt I built in 1884-1885, though it had been proposed earlier. By the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War all the large navies except the German had acquired submarines.
In 1904 all still defined the submarine as an experimental vessel and did not put it into operational use. There were no means to detect submerged U-boats, attacks on them were limited at first to efforts to damage their periscopes with hammers; the Royal Navy torpedo establishment, HMS Vernon, studied explosive grapnel sweeps. A similar approach featured a string of 70 lb charges on a floating cable, fired electrically. Tried were dropping 18.5 lb hand-thrown guncotton bombs. The Lance Bomb was developed, also. Firing Lyddite shells, or using trench mortars, was tried. Use of nets to ensnare U-boats was examined, as was a destroyer, HMS Starfish, fitted with a spar torpedo. To attack at set depths, aircraft bombs were attached to lanyards. Problems with the lanyards tangling and failing to function led to the development of a chemical pellet trigger as the Type B; these were effective at a distance of around 20 ft. The best concept arose in a 1913 RN Torpedo School report, describing a device intended for countermining, a "dropping mine".
At Admiral John Jellicoe's request, the standard Mark II mine was fitted with a hydrostatic pistol preset for 45 ft firing, to be launched from a stern platform. Weighing 1,150 lb, effective at 100 ft, the "cruiser mine" was a potential hazard to the dropping ship. During the First World War, submarines were a major threat, they operated in North Sea, Black Sea and Mediterranean as well as the North Atlantic. They had been limited to calm and protected waters; the vessels used to combat them were a range of fast surface ships using guns and good luck. They relied on the fact a submarine of the day was on the surface for a range of reasons, such as charging batteries or crossing long distances; the first approach to protect warships was chainlink nets strung from the sides of battleships, as defense against torpedoes. Nets were deployed across the mouth of a harbour or naval base to stop submarines entering or to stop torpedoes of the Whitehead type fired against ships. British warships were fitted with a ram with which to sink submarines, U-15 was thus sunk in August 1914.
RN in June 1915 began operational trials of the Type D depth charge, with a 300 lb charge of TNT and a hydrostatic pistol, firing at either 40 or 80 ft, believed to be effective at a distance of 140 ft. In July 1915, the British Admiralty set up the Board of Invention and Research to evaluate suggestions from the public as well as carrying out their own investigations; some 14,000 suggestions were received about combating submarines. In December 1916, the RN set up its own Anti-Submarine Division but relations with the BIR were poor. After 1917 most ASW work was carried out by ASD. In the U. S. a Naval Consulting Board was set up in 1915 to evaluate ideas. After American entry into the war in 1917, they encouraged work on submarine detection; the U. S. National Research Council, a civilian organization, brought in British and French experts on underwater sound to a meeting with their American counterparts in June 1917. In October 1918, there was a meeting in Paris on "supersonics", a term used for echo-ranging, but the technique was still in research by the end of the war.
The first recorded sinking of a submarine by depth charge was U-68, sunk by Q-ship HMS Farnborough off Kerry, Ireland 22 March 1916. By early 1917, the Royal Navy had developed indicator loops which consisted of long lengths of cables lain on the seabed to detect the magnetic field of submarines as they passed overhead. At this stage they were used in conjunction with controlled mines which could be detonated from a shore station once a'swing' had been detected on the indicator loop galvanometer. Indicator loops used with controlled mining were known as'guard loops'. By July 1917, depth charges had developed to the extent that settings of between 50–200 ft were possible; this design would remain unchanged through
Oregon Military Department
The Oregon Military Department is an agency of the government of the U. S. state of Oregon, which oversees the armed forces of the state of Oregon. Under the authority and direction of the governor as commander-in-chief, the agency is responsible for planning and enforcing rules and procedures governing the administration and training of the Oregon National Guard, when not in the active service of the United States; the Department maintains all state-owned or leased military facilities, including posts, military reservations, rifle ranges. The adjutant general serves as the administrative director of the Military Department and is the military command officer of the national guard; the Military Council, composed of the adjutant general and six to ten officers of the National Guard, operates as an advisory staff to the governor, in much the same way as the Joint Chiefs of Staff advise the President. The Army and Air wings of the National Guard have proportional representation on the council according to their current total strength.
The Oregon Military Department is split into the Oregon Army National Guard and the Oregon Air National Guard. The structure of units is listed below; the Adjutant General and Command Staff, Oregon State Agency Directory: Military Department https://phonebook.dasapp.oregon.gov/display.asp?agency=24800 Land Component Command and General Staff, Oregon Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment Salem, Oregon Recruiting and Retention Command, Oregon Medical Command, Oregon Regional Training Institute and Monmouth, Oregon Oregon Training Command, Adair and Umatilla The 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team The 41st Infantry Division. The 41 IBCT is headquartered in Clackamas, Oregon. 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment Headquarters and Headquarters Company Springfield Company A, Springfield Company B, Corvallis Company C, Gresham Company D, Hillsboro G Forward Support Company, 141st Brigade Support Battalion, Springfield 1st Battalion, 186th Infantry Regiment Headquarters and Headquarters Company Ashland Company A, Medford Company B, Klamath Falls Company C, Roseburg Detachment 1, Coos Bay Company D, Grants Pass H Forward Support Company, 141st Brigade Support Battalion, Medford 1st Battalion, 200th Infantry Regiment Headquarters and Headquarters Company Company A, Rio Rancho Company B, Rio Rancho Company C, Las Cruces Detachment 1, Rio Rancho Company D, Alamagordo 613th Forward Support Company, Las Cruces 1st Squadron, 303rd Cavalry Regiment Headquartered in Washington Headquarters and Headquarters Troop Vancouver Troop A, Puyallup Troop B, Pasco Troop C, Centralia D Forward Support Company, 141st Brigade Support Battalion, Centralia 2nd Battalion, 218th Field Artillery Regiment Headquarters and Headquarters Battery Forest Grove Battery A, Portland Battery B, McMinnville Battery C, Portland F Forward Support Company, 141st Brigade Support Battalion, Forest Grove 741st Brigade Engineer Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Oregon Company A, Clackamas Company B, St. Helens Company C, Clackamas Company D, Clackamas E Forward Support Company, 141st Brigade Support Battalion, Clakamas 141st Brigade Support Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company Portland Company A, Portland Company B, Portland Company C, Portland The 82nd Troop Command Brigade, Oregon HHD 82 Troop Command Brigade, Oregon 82 Tactical Support Detachment, Oregon 821 Troop Command Battalion, Oregon Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 821 Troop Command Battalion 1186 Military Police Company 115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment Salem, Oregon 234 Army Band 1942 Acquisition Team 2-641 Aviation 641st Aviation Regiment,Salem, Oregon Headquarters and Headquarters Company 2-641 Aviation G/1-189 Aviation 1/A/1-112 Aviation 1/B/1-168 Aviation A 641 Aviation 3/B/351 Aviation Detachment 47 Operational Support Aircraft 1/D/741 Brigade Engineer Battalion 1249 Engineer Battalion, Oregon Headquarters and Headquarters Company 1249 Engineers A Forward Support Company 1249 Engineer 224 Engineers 442 Engineers 3-116 Cavalry, La Grande, Oregon Headquarters and Headquarters Company 3-116 Cavalry A /3-116 Cavalry B /3-116 Cavalry C /3-116 Cavalry D /3-116 Cavalry F 145 Brigade Support Battalion 1-82 Cavalry, Oregon Headquarters and Headquarters Troop 1-82 Cavalry A Troop 1-82 Cavalry B Troop 1-82 Cavalry C Troop 1-82 Cavalry D Troop 1-82 Cavalry D Company 181 Brigade Support Battalion Air Component Command and General Staff, Oregon173rd Fighter Wing, Klamath Falls, Oregon 173d Operations Group 114th Fighter Squadron 270th Air Traffic Control Squadron 173d Maintenance Group 173d Mission Support Group 173d Medical Group 142nd Fighter Wing, Oregon 142nd Operations Group 116th Air Control Squadron, Camp Rilea AFTC, Warrenton 123rd Fighter Squadron 125th Special Tactics Squadron 123rd Weather Flight 142nd Maintenance Group 142nd Mission Support Group 142nd Medical Group Approximately 97 percent of the funds for the Oregon National Guard are provided by the federal government.
This does not reflect the smaller figure of $35.9 million or 9%, included within the Department's budget. The difference can be accounted for by the fact that troop salaries and wages are paid to them directly by the federal government. Federal funds support 100% of troop training, Defense Department programs
General William J. Fox Airfield
General William J. Fox Airfield is a county-owned, public airport in Los Angeles County, five miles northwest of Lancaster, California. Locally known as Fox Field, the airport serves the Antelope Valley; the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a general aviation facility. The airport has limited scheduled cargo operations; the U. S. Forest Service has a fixed wing airtanker base on the airfield which becomes one of the main hubs in the region for aerial firefighting suppression efforts during fire season. Fox Field had scheduled passenger air service as early as the late 1950s operated by Southwest Airways with Douglas DC-3 aircraft to the Los Angeles International Airport. Southwest Airways changed its name to Pacific Air Lines which in 1959 was operating new Fairchild F-27 turboprops from the airport nonstop to Las Vegas and to Burbank Airport on a daily basis as well as operating Martin 4-0-4 and DC-3 prop aircraft on flights to LAX. By 1960, Pacific was operating daily F-27 propjet flights to San Francisco from Fox Field via a stop in Bakersfield and nonstop to LAX.
In 1968, Pacific Air Lines merged with Bonanza Air Lines and West Coast Airlines to form Air West which in turn continued to serve the airport with F-27 flights to LAX. In 1968, Cable Commuter Airlines was operating de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter service to LAX. Air West changed its name to Hughes Airwest which continued to operate scheduled passenger service with the Fairchild F-27 turboprop to Los Angeles International Airport during the early 1970s with several nonstop flights a day. By 1983, Mojave Airlines was operating flights to LAX, San Diego and Mammoth Yosemite Airport with Beechcraft C99 turboprops. In 1985, commuter air carrier Desert Sun Airlines was operating up to five flights a day nonstop to LAX with Beechcraft 99 turboprops. Fox Field does not have any scheduled passenger flights with the nearest airline service being available at the Bob Hope Airport in Burbank. General William J. Fox Airfield covers 1,217 acres at an elevation of 2,351 feet above sea level, its one runway, 6/24, is 7,201 by 150 feet asphalt.
In the year ending August 10, 2011 the airport had 81,851 aircraft operations, average 224 per day: 97% general aviation, 2% air taxi, 1% military. 157 aircraft were based at this airport: 89% single-engine, 8% multi-engine, 2% helicopter, 1% jet. Aerial image from USGS The National Map FAA Airport Diagram, effective March 28, 2019 FAA Terminal Procedures for WJF, effective March 28, 2019 Resources for this airport: FAA airport information for WJF AirNav airport information for KWJF ASN accident history for WJF FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker NOAA/NWS latest weather observations SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures
Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk
The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-bladed, twin-engine, medium-lift utility helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky submitted the S-70 design for the United States Army's Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System competition in 1972; the Army designated the prototype as the YUH-60A and selected the Black Hawk as the winner of the program in 1976, after a fly-off competition with the Boeing Vertol YUH-61. Named after the Native American war leader Black Hawk, the UH-60A entered service with the U. S. Army in 1979, to replace the Bell UH-1 Iroquois as the Army's tactical transport helicopter; this was followed by the fielding of electronic warfare and special operations variants of the Black Hawk. Improved UH-60L and UH-60M utility variants have been developed. Modified versions have been developed for the U. S. Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard. In addition to U. S. Army use, the UH-60 family has been exported to several nations. Black Hawks have served in combat during conflicts in Grenada, Iraq, the Balkans and other areas in the Middle East.
In the late 1960s, the United States Army began forming requirements for a helicopter to replace the UH-1 Iroquois, designated the program as the Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System. The Army initiated the development of a new, common turbine engine for its helicopters that would become the General Electric T700. Based on experience in Vietnam, the Army required significant performance and reliability improvements from both UTTAS and the new powerplant; the Army released its UTTAS request for proposals in January 1972. The RFP included air transport requirements. Transport within the C-130 limited length; the UTTAS requirements for improved reliability and lower life-cycle costs resulted in features such as dual-engines with improved hot and high altitude performance, a modular design. Four prototypes were constructed, with the first YUH-60A flying on 17 October 1974. Prior to delivery of the prototypes to the US Army, a preliminary evaluation was conducted in November 1975 to ensure the aircraft could be operated safely during all testing.
Three of the prototypes were delivered to the Army in March 1976, for evaluation against the rival Boeing-Vertol design, the YUH-61A, one was kept by Sikorsky for internal research. The Army selected the UH-60 for production in December 1976. Deliveries of the UH-60A to the Army began in October 1978 and the helicopter entered service in June 1979. After entering service, the helicopter was modified for new missions and roles, including mine laying and medical evacuation. An EH-60 variant was developed to conduct electronic warfare and special operations aviation developed the MH-60 variant to support its missions. Due to weight increases from the addition of mission equipment and other changes, the Army ordered the improved UH-60L in 1987; the new model incorporated all of the modifications made to the UH-60A fleet as standard design features. The UH-60L featured more power and lifting capability with upgraded T700-GE-701C engines and an improved gearbox, both from the SH-60B Seahawk, its external lift capacity increased by 1,000 lb up to 9,000 lb.
The UH-60L incorporated the SH-60B's automatic flight control system for better flight control with the more powerful engines. Production of the L-model began in 1989. Development of the next improved variant, the UH-60M, was approved in 2001, to extend the service life of the UH-60 design into the 2020s; the UH-60M incorporates upgraded T700-GE-701D engines, improved rotor blades, state of the art electronic instrumentation, flight controls and aircraft navigation control. After the U. S. DoD approved low-rate initial production of the new variant, manufacturing began in 2006, with the first of 22 new UH-60Ms delivered in July 2006. After an initial operational evaluation, the Army approved full-rate production and a five-year contract for 1,227 helicopters in December 2007. By March 2009, 100 UH-60M helicopters had been delivered to the Army. In November 2014, US military ordered 102 aircraft of various H-60 types, worth $1.3 billion. Following an operation in May 2011, it emerged that the 160th SOAR used a secret version of the UH-60 modified with low-observable technology which enabled it to evade Pakistani radar.
Analysis of the tail section, the only remaining part of the aircraft which crashed during the operation, revealed extra blades on the tail rotor and other noise reduction measures, making the craft much quieter than conventional UH-60s. The aircraft appeared to include features like special high-tech materials, harsh angles, flat surfaces found only in stealth jets. Low observable versions of the Black Hawk have been studied as far back as the mid-1970s. In September 2012, Sikorsky was awarded a Combat Tempered Platform Demonstration contract to further improve the Black Hawk's durability and survivability; the company is to develop new technologies such as a zero-vibration system, adaptive flight control laws, advanced fire management, a more durable main rotor, full-spectrum crashworthiness, damage tolerant airframe. Improvements to the Black Hawk are to continue until the Future Vertical Lift program is ready to replace it. In December 2014, the 101st Airborne Division began testing new resupply equipment called t
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