United Rotorcraft, which outfits the Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter platform as S-70 Firehawks, is evaluating several options and upgrades to the firefighting and emergency rescue helicopter program. “[We] strive to make continuous improvements to the Firehawk to enhance flight crew safety, reduce pilot workload, increase the effectiveness and efficiencies of water delivery, search and rescue, and resource management,” the Air Methods subsidiary told AIN ahead of this year’s Heli-Expo.
The improvements include a 1,000-gallon composite water tank that the company produces in collaboration with Dart. According to the company, the composite tank offers significant weight savings compared with standard tanks, thus providing mission performance improvement. United Rotorcraft also plans to integrate the Aerometals inlet barrier filter system—a popular aftermarket modification—as a standard feature in the S-70’s baseline firefighting configuration.
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