UH-60 Black Hawk – Fojtík Jakub (2018)

The United States built its concept of helicopter aviation in the 1960s and 1970s on the sharp combat experiences from the Vietnamese jungle. Based on the analysis of the deployment of the UH-1, the US Army announced the UTTAS (Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System) project in 1972, from which a new universal helicopter for the army was to emerge. Sikorsky submitted the S-70 project to the competition, utilizing insights from the S-61, S-65, and S-67 projects. The army assigned it the name YUH-60. Nearly two years after its first flight, the YUH-60 was officially announced as the winner of the competition on December 23, 1976, and before the end of the year, the manufacturer received its first order for serial machines. These were designated UH-60A and named Black Hawk. The naming of helicopters based on Native American tribes was a tradition at Sikorsky and other helicopter manufacturers. The name Black Hawk, in Czech Černý Jetřáb, belonged to the chief of the Sauk tribe, who was renowned for his extraordinary combat bravery. The publication details the development, production, service, and export of this helicopter abroad.