헬리콥터 Re: HH-60W용 AIRCM 조달 요청

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When Computers Went To Sea | HH-60W 졸리그린II, IOC 획득 - Daum 카페

HH-60W 졸리그린II, IOC 획득

When Computers Went To Sea | 미공군, MH-139 대신 HH-60W를 VIP 수송헬기로 개조 추진 - Daum 카페

미공군, MH-139 대신 HH-60W를 VIP 수송헬기로 개조 추진

미공군의 HH-60W용 AIRCM 조달 요청에 대한 기사입니다. 

미 공군 F-16 파이팅 팰컨 조종사 Wesley Reid 소령이 HH-60W 졸리 그린 II 헬리콥터가 모의 인원 회수 임무를 수행하는 모습을 지켜보고 있다. (미 공군 사진: Senior Airman Tyrique Barquet)

HH-60W에 새로운 레이저 방어 체계 및 VIP 수송 임무 추진
2026년 4월 28일 | 작성자 Todd South

공군은 2027년 예산에서 신규 전투 수색 및 구조 헬리콥터를 위해 2억 달러 이상을 요청했으며, 여기에는 견착식 로켓에 대응하는 방어 능력과 워싱턴 D.C. 일대 VIP 수송 임무 수행 능력이 포함된다.

이 두 가지 변화는 공군이 전투 수색 및 구조 임무의 미래를 재정의하고 재평가하는 과정에서 이루어지고 있다. HH-60W 졸리 그린 II, 일명 “위스키”는 1980년대부터 운용된 HH-60G 페이브 호크를 대체하는 기종이다.

2027년 예산 요청에는 신규 HH-60W 도입은 포함되어 있지 않지만, 1억 1,600만 달러의 조달비와 8,790만 달러의 연구·개발·시험·평가 비용이 포함되어 있다.

4월 초, 위스키 기체들은 ‘오퍼레이션 에픽 퓨리’ 동안 이란에서 격추된 미군 조종사 구조 작전에 참여했다. 해당 임무에 투입된 이유는 F-15E가 견착식 로켓에 의해 격추되었기 때문이며, 공군은 이러한 위협에 대응하기 위해 향상된 적외선 대응체계를 요구하고 있다.

합참의장 Dan Caine 장군은 구조 직후 브리핑에서 HH-60이 작전 중 소화기 사격을 받았다고 밝혔다.

전투 수색 및 구조 임무가 이 헬리콥터의 주된 역할이지만, 일부 기체는 VIP 수송 임무를 위해 UH-1 휴이를 대체하도록 개조되고 있다. 이는 공군 워싱턴 지역 임무로 알려져 있다.

미 공군 제56구조비행대 소속 HH-60W 졸리 그린 II 헬리콥터가 2026년 4월 14일 지중해에서 USS 마운트 휘트니 함정의 비행 갑판에 착함하고 있다. (미 해군 사진: Chief Mass Communication Specialist Chad M. Butler)

이러한 변화는 HH-60W 프로그램이 2022년 초기 운용 능력을 달성한 이후 여러 차례 수정된 것의 연장선이다. 공군은 원래 113대를 도입할 계획이었으나 2023년에 이를 85대로 줄였다. 이후 추가 예산으로 현재 총 102대로 확대되었으며, 이는 시험기 11대, 이미 조달된 양산기 89대, 그리고 2026년 예산에 포함된 2대를 포함한다.

신규 레이저 교란 장치 필요

4월 7일 공군 생명주기관리센터는 HH-60W에 두 가지 대응체계 중 하나를 통합하기 위한 산업계 정보 요청 공고를 게시했다. 대상은 공통 적외선 대응체계(CIRCM) 또는 분산 개구 적외선 대응체계(DAIRCM)다.

공지에는 “해당 플랫폼에 적절한 고급 적외선 대응체계가 부재할 경우 적외선 유도 미사일에 대한 취약성이 크게 증가하여 임무 성공, 항공기 생존성, 승무원 안전이 위협받는다”고 명시되어 있다.

CIRCM은 노스럽 그러먼이 개발했으며, AH-64 아파치, CH-47 치누크, UH-60 블랙호크, 대통령 수송 헬기인 VH-60N 등에서 최소 3만 시간 이상 운용된 바 있다.

HH-60W 역시 록히드 마틴/시코르스키가 제작한 블랙호크 계열에 속한다.

DAIRCM은 레오나르도 DRS가 개발했으며, 기존 HH-60 페이브 호크, 해군 MH-60S 시호크, 해병대 AH-1Z 바이퍼에 탑재되어 있다. 공군은 2018년 네바다주 넬리스 공군기지에서 DAIRCM 시스템의 성능 시험을 완료했다.

페이브 호크에는 DAIRCM이 장착되어 있었지만, 위스키에는 해당 대응체계가 적용되지 않았다.

두 적외선 시스템은 양자 캐스케이드 레이저 기술을 사용해 항공기 배기가스와 유사한 파장을 생성한다. 이후 미사일 탐색기가 인식할 수 있도록 신호를 깜박이며 가짜 표적을 만들어 미사일을 유인한다.

VIP 개조

공군은 2026년 예산 요청에서 26대의 위스키를 VIP 수송용으로 개조할 계획을 처음 공개했다.

현재 해당 임무는 메릴랜드주 앤드루스 합동기지에서 운용 중인 UH-1 휴이가 수행하고 있으며, 이전에는 MH-139를 도입할 계획이었다. 그러나 공군은 위스키 개조가 더 비용 효율적이라고 판단했다.

전투용 헬리콥터를 VIP 수송용으로 전환하기 위해 공군은 4월 17일 산업계에 좌석 11개를 설치하면서도 구조 장비—구조 인양 장치, 방어 무장, 의료 설비—를 유지하는 개조를 요청했다.

개조 항목에는 다음이 포함된다.

충돌 보호 좌석 시스템
구속 장치
객실 내부 구성
중량 및 균형 시스템
비상 탈출 시스템
산소 시스템
전기 시스템

또한 민간 정부용 “블루” 기체로 전환하기 위해 다음 장비를 제거해야 한다.

구조팀 좌석
환자 들것
무장 시스템
채프/플레어 장치
문 및 바닥 장갑

공군은 2027년 예산에서 VIP 임무용 기체 26대 중 첫 2대를 개조하기 위해 연구개발비 2,400만 달러를 사용할 계획이며, 승인될 경우 2026년 12월까지 계약을 체결할 예정이다. 또한 초기 개조를 지원하기 위해 3,700만 달러의 조달 예산을 요청했으며, 이 중 대부분은 시뮬레이터에 사용될 예정이다.

전체적으로 VIP 개조 사업에는 연구개발과 조달을 포함해 약 3억 6천만 달러가 투입될 것으로 예상된다.

New Laser Defense, VIP Transport in the Works for HH-60W

U.S. Air Force Maj. Wesley Reid, an F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot, watches an HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopter conduct a simulated personnel recovery. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Tyrique Barquet)

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New Laser Defense, VIP Transport Mission in the Works for HH-60W

April 28, 2026 | By Todd South

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The Air Force is requesting more than $200 million in its 2027 budget for its new combat search and rescue helicopter, including for capabilities to protect against shoulder-fired rockets and transport VIPs around Washington D.C.

Both updates come as the Air Force is in the midst of redefining and reassessing the future of combat search and rescue. The HH-60W Jolly Green II, also known as the “Whiskey,” is the replacement for the HH-60G Pave Hawk, which has been flying since the 1980s.

The total 2027 budget request doesn’t include any new HH-60Ws, but it does includes $116 million in procurement and $87.9 million in research, development, test, and eval‎uation for the chopper.

In early April, Whiskey aircraft participated in the rescues of downed U.S. pilots in Iran during Operation Epic Fury. The Whiskeys were on the mission because an F-15E had been shot down by a shoulder-fired rocket, the same type of weapon the Air Force wants to defeat with better infrared countermeasures.

The HH-60 itself came under small arms fire during the rescue, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said in a press briefing shortly following the rescue.

While the CSAR mission is the helicopter’s main purpose, part of the fleet is being retrofitted to replace the UH-1 Huey for VIP transport, known as the Air Force District of Washington mission.

A U.S. Air Force HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopter assigned to the 56th Rescue Squadron lands on the flight deck of the Blue Ridge-class command and control ship USS Mount Whitney during deck landing qualifications aboard the ship in the Mediterranean Sea, April 14, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Chad M. Butler)

The changes are just the latest tweaks to a program that has been altered multiple times since 2022, when the HH-60W first achieved initial operational capability. The Air Force initially planned to buy 113 aircraft but trimmed that number to 85 in 2023.

Subsequent funding adds have pushed that number up to 102: 11 test aircraft, 89 production aircraft already procured, and two more left in the 2026 budget.

New Laser Jammer Needed

On April 7, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center posted a “sources sought” notice to industry for integration of one of two different countermeasure systems onto the HH-60W: the Common Infrared Countermeasure system or the Distributed Aperture Infrared Countermeasure system.

“The absence of a capable [Advanced Infrared Countermeasures] system on this platform significantly increases the risk of infrared guided missile engagement, jeopardizing mission success, aircraft survivability, and crew safety,” the notice reads.

The Common Infrared Countermeasure system is produced by Northrop Grumman and has been flown for at least 30,000 flight hours on aircraft such as the Army’s AH-64 Apache, CH-47 Chinook, UH-60 Black Hawk, and the VH-60N, known most commonly as “Marine One,” which transports the president.

The Whiskey is a part of the Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky-made Black Hawk family.

The Distributed Aperture Infrared Countermeasure system is made by Leonardo DRS and is currently onboard the legacy Air Force HH-60 Pave Hawk, the Navy’s MH-60S Seahawk, and the Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper. The Air Force completed effectiveness testing on a version of the DAIRCM system on the Pave Hawk at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, in mid-2018, according to a Director of Test and Eval‎uation Report.

While the Pave Hawk used the DAIRCM system, the Whiskey was not equipped with the countermeasure.

Both infrared systems use a technology known as quantum cascading lasers, which generate individual colors that resemble the aircraft’s exhaust, David Snodgrass, vice president/general manager at Leonardo DRS, said in a company promotional video.

Once the system has matched the color, it blinks the beam on and off to simulate the effects a missile seeker would have on the airplane, giving it a false target and decoying the missile away from the aircraft, Snodgrass said.

VIP upgrades

The Air Force first revealed its plan to modify 26 Whiskeys for the VIP transport mission in its fiscal 2026 budget request.

The service currently uses UH-1 Hueys out of Joint Base Andrews, Md. for the job and had previously planned to purchase MH-139s for that role. An Air Force spokesman said at the time that the decision to modify Whiskeys instead was more “cost-effective” than adding the MH-139.

To convert the combat-designed aircraft into a comfortable VIP transport, the service asked vendors in an April 17 notice to industry to reconfigure the aircraft to accommodate seating for 11 passengers while preserving the search-and-rescue equipment, such as the rescue hoist, defensive weapons, and medical stations.

Changes include work on the cabin floor structure and installing or upgrading:

• Crashworthy seating subsystem
• Restrain systems
• Cabin interior configuration
• Weight and balance system
• Emergency egress system
• Oxygen system
• Electrical system

Contractors will also need to remove the following to make the “green” helicopter “blue” for civilian government service: rescue team seat, isolated personnel litter, gun system, chaff/flare buckets, and armor on doors and floors.

In its fiscal 2027 budget request, the Air Force says it plans to spend $24 million in research and development money to modify the first two of the 26 aircraft dedicated to the VIP mission next year. The service expects to award a contract by December 2026, if approved. The service is also seeking $37 million for procurement to support the first modifications, most of that going to simulators.

All told, the VIP modification process is projected to cost nearly $360 million in R&D and procurement.

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외국 업체의 DIRCM 프레젠테이션에 들어 있는 적외선 영상을 보니 마치 나이트클럽의 사이키 조명같았습니다.

[위종민]

'blinks the beam'이란 표현을 보니 딱 그렇게 작동할 것 같네요 ㅎㅎㅎ