The U.S. Army has approved the use of the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, which is outfitted with Northrop Grumman’s OpenLift integrated digital cockpit, for operations during all meteorological conditions.
Northrop said Monday the Instrument Flight Rules Airworthiness Release expands the flight envelope of the UH-60V, an upgraded model of the Army’s UH-60M helicopter that has digital avionics and open-architecture features provided by OpenLift.
UH-60V is the first helicopter in service with a multicore processor that allows for the safe separation of flight-critical systems and mission software and enables additional capabilities through third-party applications.
Compatible with both Black Hawks and AH-64E Apache helicopters, OpenLift is designed to work with the Army’s planned Future Vertical Lift aircraft and other existing aerial platforms.