UH-80 Ghost Hawk

Ghost Hawk
Faction	- NATO - CTRG
Type	Utility Helicopter
Seats	12 seats: 1× Pilot 1× Co-Pilot 2× Side Gunners 8× Passengers
Item capacity	Max: 3000 kg 12× Weapons 48× Magazines 24× Backpacks
Top speed	~ 270 km/h
Service ceiling	~ 3,000 m
Fuel capacity	1360 L
Primary armament	Main: 2× Minigun 6.5 mm
Secondary armament	Defensive: 168× Countermeasures (Chaff/Flare)
Variants	None
Games

The UH-80 Ghost Hawk is the primary utility helicopter used by both NATO forces and CTRG operators.

Overview

• Roles:
  • Utility helicopter
  • Troop transport

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The UH-80 Ghost Hawk is a BLUFOR medium-lift utility helicopter with stealth design. The Ghost Hawk was developed for special operations with a focus on deployment and extraction of troops undetected by enemy radar. Some pilots say the stealth design hindered the versatility of the helicopter compared to its predecessor, the UH-60. Nevertheless, the Ghost Hawk is now used as a primary transport helicopter in the BLUFOR army. Field Manual

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Design

The Ghost Hawk is a five-bladed, twin engine, rotary-wing stealth helicopter designed for slingloading cargo and to transport troops into battle.

It is armed by default with twin miniguns fitted to side doors located just behind the cockpit. Both miniguns are individually fed with a single linked belt with 2,000 rounds of 6.5 mm ammunition (with a combined total of 4,000 rounds). The Ghost Hawk does not support dynamic loadouts as the door guns are unable to mount any other types of weapons, nor does it have the ability to fit any stub wings onto the fuselage.

The Ghost Hawk is fairly agile and is second only to the Blackfoot in terms of manoeuvrability. While not nearly as fast as its AAF counterpart, it is simpler to fly and has overall better stability.

The other advantage is that the Ghost Hawk is always armed by default. This means that it is far less risky to drop or pick up troops/cargo in a hot landing zone since the Ghost Hawk's door gunners can suppress the enemy, whereas the Mohawk cannot do the same without an escort providing cover for it.

However, it should be noted that while the Ghost Hawk is durable enough to sustain a small amount of ground fire, in terms of protection it is just as lightly armoured as the Mohawk. As such, it should not be flown into areas with significant anti-air threats.

Similarly to the Blackfoot, the Ghost Hawk's rotors are also modified so that they operate much more silently. It is more difficult to hear a Ghost Hawk flying in from afar compared to the Mohawk or the PO-30, both of which can be easily heard from many kilometres away. The stealthy design of the airframe also makes it difficult to detect by fighter radars, and can easily blend into ground clutter provided that the pilot flies nap-of-the-earth.

The Ghost Hawk has a seating capacity of twelve personnel (including the crew). This consists of both the pilot and co-pilot, and up to ten passengers who sit on back-facing seats in the centre compartment.

Camouflage

• Olive: Pattern-less olive drab green paint scheme.

• Black: Pattern-less matte black paint scheme.
• Sand: Two-tone dazzle pattern camouflage scheme used by CTRG forces in arid/desert environments.
• Tropic: Two-tone dazzle pattern camouflage scheme used by CTRG forces in jungle/tropic environments.

Sensors

Designed exclusively for transporting troops, the Ghost Hawk has only one type of sensor available:

Active Radar

The Ghost Hawk does not use an active radar as it does not have any weapon systems that would require one.

Infrared Search and Track/Visual Sensor

The Ghost Hawk does not have the ability to detect targets visually or through IRST.

Radar Warning Receiver/Passive Radar

The RWR has a 360 degree detection radius and a target recognition range of 12 km.

Laser Spot Tracker

The Ghost Hawk does not have the ability to lock onto laser marks or infrared strobes.

Slingloading

The Ghost Hawk is able to slingload and transport a variety of vehicles and equipment, including:

• Prowlers (all variants)
• Offroads (all variants)
• Quad bikes
• Boats (including assault boats and rescue boats, but not speedboat miniguns)
• Supply boxes
• Items in cargo nets (including the Cargo Net (NATO), Cargo Net (Box), Cargo Net (Barrels), and Cargo Net (Sacks))
• Civilian cars and trucks (Excluding the heavy (Zamak) trucks)

The Ghost Hawk's lifting abilities are comparable to the Huron, except that it cannot carry Hunters, UGV Stompers, swimmer delivery vehicles (SDVs), speedboats, Zamak transports, or the Huron's containers.

Trivia

• The Ghost Hawk is Arma 3's take on the real-world stealth variant of the Sikorsky "UH-60 Black Hawk" that were supposedly flown by U.S. Special Forces during the raid in Operation Neptune Spear.
• Although not manually openable by the player, the side doors can be seen being opened throughout some showcases and during the course of some missions throughout the campaign's Win episode. 
• While the model can no longer be found in the game files, leftover textures and icons still exist for a variant of the Ghost Hawk that would have been supposedly outfitted with external stub wings akin to the real-life External Stores Support System (ESSS). 
• This configuration would have made it similar to that of the real-world "MH-60L Direct Action Penetrator", a variant of the standard UH-60 (which the Ghost Hawk is based on) that was designed exclusively to serve as a gunship.
  • Co-incidentally, ArmA: Cold War Assault also had a variant of the UH-60 that was designed with the same configuration. 

Gallery

Arma3-ghosthawk.jpg

The interior of the Ghost Hawk's cockpit.

External links

• Wikipedia: Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk

See also

Aircraft of comparable role and configuration

• CH-49 Mohawk (Civilian/AAF counterpart)