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Ardu The Aircraft Research and Development Unit (ARDU) has had a small number of Black Hawks attached to it since the type has been in the ADF’s inventory. The S-70 currently attached to the special testing unit is A26-206, seen here performing spectacular chaff and flare dispenser testing. (Paul Fenn, 92 Wing Photographic)
Aircraft of the ADF – A25 Sikorsky Black Hawk
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A25 – Sikorsky S-70A Black Hawk
The search for an Iroquois replacement for the RAAF, the New Utility Helicopter (NUH), commenced in the early 1980s as Air Staff Target 404 and a Request for Tender was issued to industry on April 19, 1984. Responding for this order were the Aerospatiale AS 332B Super Puma, Westland’s W30-400, the Bell JVX tilt rotor, the Sikorsky S-70A (or UH-60) Black Hawk, and a development of the Agusta Mongoose. The Sikorsky S-70B Seahawk had already been selected by the RAN for anti-submarine and surface targeting roles, so Sikorsky was in a strong position to push the Black Hawk’s commonality.
An Application Identifier is a four-character alphanumeric prefix, allocated by the RAAF, to create a technical management code for a particular aircraft. This Application Identifier is made up of “A” (the stores code for aircraft), a one or two-digit number unique for the aircraft type, and a last letter indicating which service owns the aircraft. Thus with the introduction of the S-70B helicopter, the RAN applied to the RAAF for an alphanumeric prefix, and in March 1985 the RAAF assigned the allocation A24. The Application Identifier A24N was allotted to spare parts accounting for the S-70B, and the RAN applied N24 as the serial prefix to these aircraft. In November 1985, the NUH was allocated the A25 identification prefix.
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