Illinois Army National Guard To Test UH-60V Black Hawks

The updated UH-60V Black Hawks' new digital technology are upgrades long overdue, according to the state's Army National Guard leadership.

Kimberly Johnson

Tuesday, March 22, 2022 at 02:20 PM ET

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Chief Warrant Officer 4 Frank Madeira, left, and Chief Warrant Officer 4 Justin Meyer, both instructor pilots at the Eastern Army National Guard Aviation Training Site, pose in front of a UH-60V Black Hawk helicopter on Muir Army Airfield at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa., on Nov. 10, 2021. [Photo: Brad Rhen]

Key Takeaways:

Illinois Army National Guard pilots will be the first to test the new UH-60V Black Hawk, the Army’s digitally upgraded variant designed to modernize its aging helicopter fleet.

“The Illinois National Guard was selected to do this testing for the entire Army,” Chief Warrant Officer 5 Herb Stevens, the Illinois National Guard’s Army Aviation Support Facility #2 commander, said in a statement. “We’re the only operational unit in the Army that has these aircraft right now.”