The U.S. Navy has announced via its Twitter account on April 16, 2021, that MH-60S Knighthawk helicopters, with the “Black Knights” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 4, conduct a live-fire training exercise near Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada.
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U.S. Navy MH-60S Knighthawk helicopters from the “Black Knights” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 4. (Picture source U.S. Navy)
The Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron Four (HSC-4) also known as the Black Knights, is a multi-role combat helicopter squadron of the United States Navy based at Naval Air Station North Island which operates Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk helicopters deployed aboard aircraft carriers.
The HSC-4 is an MH-60S Sea Hawk naval helicopter squadron attached to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2. The CVW-2 is a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing based at Naval Air Station Lemoore. The air wing is attached to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.
The missions of the HSC-4 are to provide all-weather rotary wing operations, vertical lift search and rescue, logistics, anti-surface warfare, special operations forces support, and combat search and rescue capabilities to the carrier air wing.
The MH-60S known as the "Knighthawk" is manufactured by the American company Sikorsky Aircraft, which is now part of Lockheed Martin. This helicopter is based on the UH-60L and has many naval SH-60 features.
The MH-60S is used by the U.S. Navy to conduct missions such as vertical replenishment, combat search and rescue, special warfare support and airborne mine countermeasures.
The Mh-60S is armed with door-mounted machine guns such as the M60D, M240D, or GAU-17/A. A "batwing" Armed Helo Kit based on the Army's UH-60L was developed to accommodate Hellfire missiles, Hydra 70 2.75 inch rockets, or larger guns. In combat search and rescue configuration, an additional pylon can be mounted on the helicopter that can carry Hellfire air-to-surface missiles and mk54 digital torpedo.
