Hi guys please excuse my newbie question but I am hoping you can help. I understand that the black hawk 60G and 60L came out with the mini gun and the m240 mounted on two different mounts out of a window between the cargo bay and the front doors with the ammunition bins and feeds inside behind the pilot/navigator, am I correct? I am also of the understanding this configurations is used by each of the armed forces in the US theatre of operations........ My second question is I have seen pictures of black hawks with the same guns, the mini gun and the m240 mounted externally with ammunition bins and feeds mounted outside off of the front wheel section...Are these two configurations only used by the Airforce or are they used by all armed forces in US theatre of operations ....... Lastly is or has the m2 50 cal ever been mounted in these set ups on a black hawk or has academy got it wrong

You are sort of on the right track. Here is the basic breakdown...

US Army:
- Standard UH-60A/L models originally used two gunners' window-mounted M60D MGs and later (early 2000s) switched to M240D MGs. The latest model, UH-60Ms use two M240Ds. Both the M60D and M240D have ammo cans mounted along-side the guns on the gunmount.

- 160 SOAR (Special Ops Aviation Regiment) MH-60L/M use M134 miniguns mounted in the gunners' windows with internal ammo cans.

- The US Army does not use the external mount.

US Air Force:
- MH/HH-60Gs originally mounted either two GAU 2 miniguns, two GAU 16 .50 cal MGs, or one of each in the gunners' windows with internal ammo cans.

- Later model HH-60Gs have the external gun mount/ammo can and again can mount either of the above combinations.

- The configuration shown on Academy's MH-60G with .50 cals mounted in the cargo doors and M134s mounted in the gunners' windows was tested in ODS (Op Desrt Storm, '90-'91) but was not accepted as a configuration to be used. It is not used on any current USAF HH-60Gs.

Dragon's M60D from their Vietnam Helo Crew set are really nice.

Live-Resin makes really nice M240D and M134 window mounts.

Cobra Company makes a couple really nice sets of the external mounts with ammo boxes and weapons.

Now that's really help full thanks Gino mate I have a question do the army and airforce use both the 60 G and the 60 L or do they only use one per force eg army use the 60L only.... Do the SOAR black hawks come with any other configuration ie m2 or m240 or only just the m134 plus a 30mm mounted on the external store station depending on version. I have looked at both the live resin sets and will be getting them plus have the CC external guns on the way so that's a good thing...... I am looking at doing black hawks from 2nd Gulf war through to Afghanistan...... are there any major differences between the L and the M version

Army uses UH-60A/L/M and MH-60L/M models. 160 SOAr only uses miniguns in the gunners' windows and sometimes mount the 25mm M242 bushmaster on the ESSS wing in the DAP (Deep Action Penetrator) configuration. The L and M are very different. The biggest visible difference on the M is the square, folding stabilator and down turned blade tips. Internally, it is very different. Cobra Company makes an M conversion set as well.

USAF uses MH/HH-60G model.

Thanks for that Gino now I need to go do some more looking at resin sets and make sure I am building correctly. I am guessing the 60L would be a good base to base the 60M on with modifications and the CC set being used

The best Academy 1/35 kit to get for any version is the AH-60L DAP, really an MH-60L DAP, the US military doesn't use the AH - Attack Helicopter - designation w/ Black Hawks since they are not attack helicopters, but helicopter gunships in the DAP configuration. The MH-60L DAP kit contains all the srpues from their earlier kits (UH-60A/L and MH-60G) so you can build just about any model Black Hawk.

Also, check out Werner's Wings UH-60 Black Hawk - Workhorse of the Army and Night Stalkers Don't Quit - History of the 160th SOAR parts 1 and 2 decal sheets for them.

There are no AM decal sets for USAF Pave Hawks that I know of. The ones in the Academy MH-60G kit are pretty good though.

Hi Gino, for my personal knowledge, I have this question for you: What about the FN-Herstal M3M/GAU-21? They state that it's in use


Could it be the M2/.50cal that Stephen was talking about? And is FN-Herstal right to say that about all services?

Thank's

Marc/ubi

As far as I know, the FN-Herstal M3M/GAU-21 is not used by the US Army on Black Hawks nor ground vehicles/ground mounts. It may be used on the OH-58D, but I am not sure. That gun is an M3 with air-cooled barrel cover, but has a different flash suppressor and may be a different gun.

US Army OH-58D w/ M3 .50 cal


The USAF uses a similar gun, GUA 16, as their .50 cals. They also have the air-cooled barrel cover, but different flash suppressors and a different grip/cradle setup.

USAF HH-60G w/GAU 16


As far as I can tell, only the USMC and USN use the GAU 21.

USMC UH-1Y w/ GAU 21 .50 cal


USN MH-60S w/ GUA 21 in door mount

Thank you my friend

Gino thank you mate appreciated

Gino just a confirmation I am able to build the G Pave hawk out of the 60 L DAP kit 12115 aren't I....I just need to follow the G instructions to build the right version plus use the Cobra Company 60 G correction kit, its a bit hard to find the G kit these days

That is correct. All the MH-60G parts are in the box as the G sprue.



If you need the assembly instructions, you can print them off from here, just click on "Assembly Guide".

Good luck and be sure to post about it here w/pics.

Awesome mate thank you for that.... provably will use the CC correction just for the crisper detail..... now I know I can pick up a 60L DAP on ebay cheap, time to go do some buying I feel plus stock up on some other goodies.... Thanks again mate