Help identifying a helicopter

[Foinikas]

Yesterday,I heard a helicopter passing from the area,so I got out in the balcony and something that looked like an Apache,but I couldn't tell for sure. I didn't have time to zoom in and take a pic. A bit later,I hear a loud sound and a helicopter passed right above,so I managed to take a few pics.

But I can't figure out what it is exactly. A friend said it's a Black Hawk.

 

[Asfandyar Bhittani]

Your friend may be right.

 

[Gripen9]

Sea Hawk

 

[Foinikas]

Sea Hawk

No,I've seen the Aegean Hawk that we have and they have a blue-grey camo.

Today,a helicopter passed again:

I just read a speech the MoD gave somewhere and he said at some point that "The Black Hawks are already being delivered".

 

[Gripen9]

No,I've seen the Aegean Hawk that we have and they have a blue-grey camo.

Today,a helicopter passed again:

View attachment 50906

I just read a speech the MoD gave somewhere and he said at some point that "The Black Hawks are already being delivered".

Black Hawk has a "tail dragger" landing gear whereas Sea Hawk (not MH60R) have a mid section rear landing gear. I am not seeing the "tail" landing gear in the photo?

 

[Oscar]

No,I've seen the Aegean Hawk that we have and they have a blue-grey camo.

Today,a helicopter passed again:

View attachment 50906

I just read a speech the MoD gave somewhere and he said at some point that "The Black Hawks are already being delivered".

Is there an exercise in progress? Transiting units?

 

[Foinikas]

No,the thing is we ordered or will order 35 UH-60M,but...the first ones are supposed to arrive in late 2025 or so. No idea.

 

[j_hungary]

This probably more in line with a MH-60 than a Seahawk

Seahawk have the sonobuoy under the cockpit, you can see the contour skip outside the fuselage.

 

[Gripen9]

This probably more in line with a MH-60 than a Seahawk

Seahawk have the sonobuoy under the cockpit, you can see the contour skip outside the fuselage.

Not sonobouys, but there is a search radar under cockpit.

 

[FuturePAF]

Perhaps a TurkishHawk,
Just kidding
It looks like a MH-60

 

[GoMig-21]

Sea Hawk

It's definitely one of 2 Hawks for sure, either the S-70B Seahawk like you said which already exists in the Hellenic Navy (I believe they have 11 of them) or it's part of the new batch of MH-60Rs that the HAF ordered and supposedly were delivered in February to add to the fleet of S-70Bs.

The first three MH-60R aircraft will arrive in Greece during 2024 aboard U.S. Navy transport planes. Four additional aircraft will arrive in 2025 to complete the Hellenic Navy’s seven-aircraft purchase.

Foinikas' pic shows all the traits of both aircraft, the angled tail rotor to the rudder, the nose-mounted FLIR ball but what makes me think Hungary might be right that it could very well be one of the new MH-60Rs is the jagged edged tips of the main rotors. I don't think the S-70B Seahawks have those jagged tips on their rotors but the MH-60Rs do.

The rear rotor is angled to the vertical tail rudder (common to Blackhawks & Seahawks) takes the Apache out besides, no winglets in the pic like there would be on the Apache.

The less visible rear landing gear like you said because it's not in the typical far aft section of the tail boom but rather closer to main body which takes the Blackhawk out of the mix.

It has the jagged tips on the main rotors which I'm not sure is an SH-70 trait, but these appear to have the nose-mounted FLIR on top of the nose bracket and not hanging below, which might not make it so prominent-looking like it is in the live pic.

HAF S-70B FLIR below bracket and more consistent with the live pic.

These are the first 3 MH-60Rs for the HAF with the FLIR ball on top of the bracket.

Either way they're beautiful machines with killer weapon systems. Anti-submarine hunters and can perform sea & land warfare missions. Perfect to equip frigates and LHDs.

 

[Foinikas]

It's definitely one of 2 Hawks for sure, either the S-70B Seahawk like you said which already exists in the Hellenic Navy (I believe they have 11 of them) or it's part of the new batch of MH-60Rs that the HAF ordered and supposedly were delivered in February to add to the fleet of S-70Bs.

The first three MH-60R aircraft will arrive in Greece during 2024 aboard U.S. Navy transport planes. Four additional aircraft will arrive in 2025 to complete the Hellenic Navy’s seven-aircraft purchase.

Foinikas' pic shows all the traits of both aircraft, the angled tail rotor to the rudder, the nose-mounted FLIR ball but what makes me think Hungary might be right that it could very well be one of the new MH-60Rs is the jagged edged tips of the main rotors. I don't think the S-70B Seahawks have those jagged tips on their rotors but the MH-60Rs do.

View attachment 52084

The rear rotor is angled to the vertical tail rudder (common to Blackhawks & Seahawks) takes the Apache out besides, no winglets in the pic like there would be on the Apache.

View attachment 52083

The less visible rear landing gear like you said because it's not in the typical far aft section of the tail boom but rather closer to main body which takes the Blackhawk out of the mix.

View attachment 52086

It has the jagged tips on the main rotors which I'm not sure is an SH-70 trait, but these appear to have the nose-mounted FLIR on top of the nose bracket and not hanging below, which might not make it so prominent-looking like it is in the live pic.

View attachment 52090

HAF S-70B FLIR below bracket and more consistent with the live pic.

View attachment 52088

These are the first 3 MH-60Rs for the HAF with the FLIR ball on top of the bracket.

View attachment 52092

Either way they're beautiful machines with killer weapon systems. Anti-submarine hunters and can perform sea & land warfare missions. Perfect to equip frigates and LHDs.

The whole post is excellent,the thing though that makes me wonder is...why was the camo black? Or at least that dark olive green or whatever it is. I've seen an Aegean Hawk from up close,I've seen them flying as well. One can tell the difference in camo between the other helicopters and them.

For example,photos I've taken at the parade of 28th October in my city:

 

[Foinikas]

In comparison I found Aegean Hawks flying over my area. Screenshots are from a video I took:

And a Chinook:

 

[Foinikas]

Perhaps a TurkishHawk,
Just kidding
It looks like a MH-60

What if they were the new MH-60R that we've been receiving,but they haven't painted them with the Aegean camo yet? Or whatever it's called. The silver-blue camo.

 

[GoMig-21]

The whole post is excellent,the thing though that makes me wonder is...why was the camo black? Or at least that dark olive green or whatever it is. I've seen an Aegean Hawk from up close,I've seen them flying as well. One can tell the difference in camo between the other helicopters and them.

For example,photos I've taken at the parade of 28th October in my city:

View attachment 52234

Yes, right. That's a phenomenon called...............photography! lool but seriously, it's an actual occurrence even to the eye, but especially as a result of the lighting conditions. It's much more common on days where there's excess overcast. When there's not enough light illuminating the subject, the colors don't reflect back so you don't see any or see less would be a better description.

I learned about this from doing a lot of hawk-watching and believe it or not, we learned through the years that the overcast days are better for seeing and identifying the different raptors than beautiful, sunny days. The sun & the bright light from it actually creates heat distortion (mostly during cold temperatures with great sunlight) and that heat distortion affects the focusing of the subject. The opposite is created with overcast days or lowlight conditions, we see the outline MUCH better and can identify the birds a lot clearer because there's no heat distortion, but at the same time because of the lack of light, the shape is dark overall, but the contour edges are well-defined. So we can see pointy wings vs rounded, broad wings better. Longer tails vs shorter tails & size differences etc. which helps identify species. Hard to explain but it's really a fascinating phenomenon.

Maybe fellas who photograph a lot more than I do like can explain it better like @VCheng or @j_hungary , how low lighting conditions give more definition to the overall shape but don't pick up colors very well as opposed to strong lighting which creates distortion and affects the focal point & details but shows color better.

Like this pic here. Obviously the first one was an Apache which is black anyway. But this is an NH90TTH and you can clearly see some overcast which is affecting the colors, focus & surface details yet the profile (shape) is almost perfectly defined.