#aerobd.news : The Program Executive Office Aviation’s Utility Helicopter Project Office successfully completed the initial test flight of its Engineering Development Model of the US Army’s UH-60V Black Hawk helicopter on January 19, 2017.

The test flight lasted a little more than an hour and included a variety of exercises including take-off, hover, track and balance, and a brief local area flight before returning to the airfield. The completion of the flight on this date, which was set more than two years ago, was a collaborative effort among several organizations within the military and industry including the US Army’s Aviation and Missile Research and Development Center (AMRDEC), Research, Develop and Engineering Command (RDECOM), Northrop Grumman, and Redstone Defense Systems.
Over the next few weeks, the aircraft will go through final maintenance actions and acceptance test procedures before being handed over to the Aviation Flight Test Directorate in mid- February. Once handed over to AFTD, it will undergo further system level developmental testing to ensure that the aircraft and software performs in accordance with user requirements.

AMRDEC’s Prototype Integration Facility is being used to design and develop three engineering development models and a corresponding technical data package. The kits will be furnished to the Corpus Christi Army Depot to produce two additional EDM aircraft in preparation for low rate initial production. These additional EDMs will supplement EDMs 1-3 for Initial Operational Test and Evaluation in 2019. The Army Acquisition Objective for the program is 760 aircraft.