First iteration of the Jolly Vihar train sequence that includes the HH-60W Jolly Inexperienced II helicopter for the 56th Rescue Squadron.
The U.S. Air Power rescue neighborhood has settled right into a helpful rhythm in western Hungary. What started as a primary go to in 2022 has turn into an annual cease for the 56th Rescue Squadron that now flies the HH-60W Jolly Inexperienced II. The 56th RS obtained its first new HH-60W Jolly Inexperienced II helicopter, which arrived onboard a C-5 Galaxy, on Dec. 13, 2024. Aviano began retiring its ultimate 5 legacy HH-60G Pave Hawks in 2024, with the primary, tail quantity A6114, despatched to the boneyard on board a C-17 Globemaster III. However the base in northeastern Italy, dwelling to the thirty first Fighter Wing, had began retiring older HH-60Gs in 2020 and 2021, changed by 2022 with helicopters from models already transitioned to the HH-60W.
Readers might recall our report on “Jolly Vihar 23“, the place we adopted the unit’s reside gunnery and personnel restoration workups. The newest rotation, held in mid July, constructed on an analogous template, with extra plane, extra weapons integration and, for the primary time, night time flying.
Three HH-60W helicopters, belonging to the 56th RS arrived at Pápa Air Base, Hungary, with roughly 75 squadron members, whereas a fourth helicopter remained at Aviano. The detachment stayed two weeks. There was no flying through the weekend pause, though floor groups continued reload, inspection and planning duties. All mission help gear moved in by highway convoy, a alternative the unit prefers for this venue.
The placement is a serious a part of the attraction of JV. The close by firing vary affords massive, versatile sectors that may be booked for a number of weapon profiles and ingress lanes, and Pápa is a contemporary NATO base with the providers a small detachment really wants. The helicopters launched from Pápa for each sortie, recovered to a devoted pad for rearm, then turned shortly for the subsequent occasion. When you’ve got watched common-use pads at different European ranges, the move right here will look acquainted, however Pápa’s format retains the new refuel and cargo sequence compact and predictable, which is strictly what crews need when they’re driving a syllabus.
The primary week centered on pure reside firing. Throughout the flying actions, the gunners used the GAU-21 machine weapons for the primary time. In line with the crews, this marked their first GAU-21 employment with the HH-60W.
The GAU-21 is a .50 caliber, single-barrel, rapid-fire machine gun fitted to the aspect of the HH-60 helicopters, able to partaking targets out to almost 2,000 meters for each offensive and defensive missions. Developed from the FN M3 .50 caliber heavy machine gun, the GAU-21 operates from an open bolt and incorporates a twin recoil buffer system. It features with out reliance on electrical or hydraulic energy, whereas its specialised soft-mount design improves accuracy and reduces the quantity of firing vibration transferred to the airframe.
Night time sorties had been the opposite first for this web site with the Whiskey.
The second week introduced the pararescue jumpers into the combination. PJs executed accomplice insertions, extractions and casualty situations after the live-fire home windows, which let the detachment cowl each ends of the rescue mission set.
Pilots repeatedly described the Jolly Inexperienced II as a genuinely completely different helicopter moderately than a modest replace, with quicker climbs, higher pace stability and extra margin in tight terrain. For a neighborhood that spends a lot of its time flying low and heavy, these features translate to extra choices on the fringe of the envelope.
Coordination was tight. Hungarian authorities didn’t fly with the People through the detachment, however they offered firefighters, medical help and a joint terminal assault controller staff. The JTACs helped deconflict actions contained in the vary complicated, confirmed the usable blocks on the day and maintained secure airspace whereas the helicopters transitioned out and in.
An Italian Leonardo AW109 TrekkerM, the navy model of the AW109 Trekker, and a brand new multi-role, mild twin-engine helicopter additionally flew on a number of on the firing vary for exams with the gun pods of the identical days. The Italians most popular early afternoon slots, whereas the U.S. crews usually launched earlier than midday and once more near 19:00, a stagger that stored the sample uncongested.
An enormous thanks to our good friend and contributor Benedek Levente for the pictures and particulars about JV 25!
