First Live Fire Testing for the HH-60W Jolly Green II CSAR Helicopter

First Live Fire Testing for the HH-60W Jolly Green II CSAR Helicopter

By Dario Leone
Sep 26 2020
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The three weapons tested were: the GAU-2, a 7.62mm gatling gun, the GAU-18, a .50 caliber legacy machine gun and the GAU-21, a .50 caliber newly-designed machine gun.

Deep within Eglin’s range, rapid, powerful gunfire reverberated across the expanse beginning Aug. 17, 2020.  Live fire testing began for the HH-60W Jolly Green II’s three primary weapons.

As reported by Samuel King Jr. in the article HH-60W Jolly Green II begins live-fire testing, the goal of the ground testing was to verify the weapons systems functionality, accuracy, and to demonstrate the guns are safe to employ operationally.  The 413th Flight Test Squadron testers and their partners performed the testing over a three-week period.

The three weapons tested were: the GAU-2, a 7.62mm gatling gun with a 3,000 rounds per minute fire rate, the GAU-18, a .50 caliber legacy machine gun with a 650-800 round fire rate, and the GAU-21, a .50 caliber newly-designed machine gun with a 950-1100 round fire rate.

“It was great to see all the team’s planning and hard work finally pay off to get us to execution and gather this initial live-fire data,” said Maj. Christopher Hull, 413th FLTS chief test engineer.

First Live Fire Testing for the HH-60W Jolly Green II CSAR Helicopter
Riley Schultz, an NSW Crane Senior Logistics Analyst, loads a belt of .50 caliber rounds into the ammunition can for testing on the HH-60W near Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Aug 21, 2020. This day of testing was with the GAU-18, a .50 caliber legacy machine gun that has a fire rate between 650-850 rpm.

The first HH-60W built, commonly referred to as Whiskey 1 within the unit, was used for the ground testing.  Whiskey 1 contains specialized test instrumentation that allows, aircraft manufacturer, Sikorsky, to monitor hundreds of parameters during the flights and envelope expansion testing.  That specialized instrumentation allowed the testers to record the stress and strains in the aircraft caused by firing the weapons.

The helicopter’s guns can rotate independently providing an almost 360-degree firing arc.  This created a unique challenge for the squadron’s engineers to develop test and safety plans not typically encountered with fixed wing aircraft.  Details such as blade rotation, human factors and instrumentation were examined and controlled for before the actual testing could begin according to Hull.

The Jolly Green’s aircrew not only operated the weapons, they were part of the evaluation as well.  The crew wore special instrumentation that measured the weapon’s blast effects on their bodies.  That data is part of a larger DOD study to better understand the effects of weapon blast on the human body, specifically as it relates to traumatic brain injury.  The goal is to reduce injuries to service members who operate such weapons. 

The ground testing phase is just the first step in the evaluation of the weapons.  Data from the tests will be evaluated by the Air Force’s Non-Nuclear Munitions Safety Board, who will then clear the HH-60W for live fire flight testing.  That testing is currently scheduled for later in 2020.  

First Live Fire Testing for the HH-60W Jolly Green II CSAR Helicopter
Crews from the 413th Flight Test Squadron watch the firing of the GAU-18 .50 caliber machine gun on the range near Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Aug 21, 2020. During this day of testing, nearly 2000 rounds of ammunition were fired at targets to be analyzed.

Photo credit: Tech. Sgt. John Raven / U.S. Air Force


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Dario Leone

Dario Leone

Dario Leone is an aviation, defense and military writer. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviation Geek Club” one of the world’s most read military aviation blogs. His writing has appeared in The National Interest and other news media. He has reported from Europe and flown Super Puma and Cougar helicopters with the Swiss Air Force.

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