U.S. Air Force Plans HH-60W Modifications for Washington VIP Transport and Continuity Missions

Additional changes may involve installing ARC 210 Gen 6 radios, an Infrared Countermeasure system, and an alternate seating arrangement. Earlier this month, the Air Force issued a contracting notice seeking information on integrating the Common Infrared Countermeasure system or the AN/AAQ-45 Distributed Aperture Infrared Countermeasure system onto the HH-60W fleet.

U.S. Army and is being installed on UH-60 Black Hawks and other helicopter types. Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for this system. U.S. Navy, with integrations on MH-60S Seahawks and VH-60Ns, the latter serving in the Marine One presidential airlift role.

The AN/AAQ-45 system was previously integrated into the Air Force's HH-60G Pave Hawks. A separate Air Force contracting notice from earlier this month states that the service will remove several components from the baseline HH-60W to install passenger seats for the Air Force District of Washington mission, with seating required for 11 passengers.

" The reconfiguration of the HH-60W interior layout will preserve critical combat search and rescue equipment, including the rescue hoist, defensive weapons, and medical stations.

The HH-60W offers advantages in speed, range, and payload capacity over both the UH-1Ns currently performing these missions and the MH-139s. The Air Force has not indicated plans to eliminate the HH-60W's aerial refueling capability as part of the modifications. Neither the UH-1N nor the MH-139 is capable of in-flight refueling.

HH-60Ws recently participated in efforts to rescue the crew of an F-15E Strike Eagle shot down in Iran. In January 2025, an Army UH-60 Black Hawk assigned to a unit at Davison Army Airfield in Virginia was involved in a fatal mid-air collision with a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet while conducting a continuity of government training flight.

The Air Force's 2027 fiscal year budget request shows no plans to procure additional HH-60Ws.

The service originally planned for 113 HH-60Ws but scaled back purchases, with the total planned fleet size now at 91, according to the budget documents. "It is more cost effective to modify previously procured HH-60Ws than to procure additional MH-139A aircraft," an Air Force spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine last year.

The Air Force plans to begin formal development of the Air Force District of Washington configuration for the HH-60W in fiscal year 2027, which starts on October 1 of this year.

Refitting of the helicopters for this role is set to start in the 2028 fiscal year. Once modified, the HH-60Ws will take over the missions from the UH-1Ns at Andrews.