The only USAF base in Europe and Africa with CSAR helicopters, Aviano is the last active duty base to transition from the legacy HH-60G Pave Hawk to the recently delivered HH-60W Jolly Green II.
The 56th Rescue and Rescue Generation Squadrons at Aviano Air Base, Italy, recently flew the last mission of the active duty U.S. Air Force HH-60G Pave Hawk fleet. The farewell to the helicopter was celebrated with a final four ship flight with the remaining helicopters on Dec. 18, 2024.
“Today marks the end of an iconic chapter in our Air Force history with the final active-duty HH-60G flight,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Beau Diers, 31st Fighter Wing deputy commander. “Through its tour of duty, the HH-60G provided countless lifesaving rescue operations around the globe. As we transition to the HH-60W, we remember the G’s proud history while looking forward to an even brighter future with increased combat capabilities.”
Just few days earlier, on Dec. 13, Aviano received the first new HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopter, which arrived onboard a C-5 Galaxy. At least two of the new helicopters should already be at the Italian base, with the deliveries expected to be completed by October 2025.
Aviano started retiring its final five legacy Pave Hawks earlier this year, with the first, tail number A6114, sent to the boneyard on board a C-17 Globemaster III. Previously, the base started retiring older HH-60Gs in 2020 and 2021, replaced by 2022 with helicopters from units that already transitioned to the HH-60W.
One of these first helicopters, tail A6212, was retired in 2021 to become a gate guardian at Aviano. This particular Pave Hawk, said the base, has saved and assisted more than 958 lives and has flown 9,362.4 hours – the most hours of any HH-60 in the 56th Rescue Squadron’s (RQS) fleet.
The HH-60G Pave Hawk
The HH-60G Pave Hawk is a highly modified version of the Army Black Hawk helicopter which features an upgraded communications and navigation suite, as well as specialized mission equipment to support the helicopter’s primary mission to conduct day or night personnel recovery operations into hostile environments to recover isolated personnel.
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Because of this, the helicopter was equipped with integrated inertial navigation/global positioning/Doppler navigation systems, satellite communications, secure voice, Have Quick secure communications, night vision, color weather radar and engine/rotor blade anti-ice system, giving the HH-60G an all-weather capability. Since it was designed to operate in hostile environments, the Pave Hawk mission equipment included a retractable in-flight refueling probe, internal auxiliary fuel tanks, two crew-served 7.62mm or .50 caliber machineguns, radar warning receiver, infrared jammer and flare/chaff countermeasures.
The HH-60G was also tasked to perform military operations other than war, including civil search and rescue, medical evacuation, disaster response, humanitarian assistance, security cooperation/aviation advisory, NASA space flight support, and rescue command and control. Since it was first fielded in 1982, when it replaced the HH-3E Jolly Green Giant, the Pave Hawk took part in many deployments, both in the combat and humanitarian relief roles.
The first combat deployment of the type was Operation Just Cause in Panama, 1989. During Operation Desert Storm the HH-60G provided combat search and rescue coverage for coalition forces in western Iraq, coastal Kuwait, the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia. During Operation Allied Force, Pave Hawks provided continuous combat search and rescue coverage for NATO air forces, and successfully recovered two Air Force pilots who were isolated behind enemy lines.
The HH-60Gs later deployed again to support operations as part of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). The first was Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, a direct response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, followed by Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 2003 Iraq invasion which has also become commonly known as the Second Gulf War.
The combat operations of the Pave Hawk continued without pause throughout the years, with multiple deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, the Horn of Africa and Syria. At the same time, the helicopters supported humanitarian relief operations both at home and abroad, such as the 2000 Mozambique floods, 2005 Hurricane Katrina in the U.S., the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and many more.
The new HH-60W
The U.S. Air Force received the first two operational HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopters in 2020 at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, beginning the transition from the HH-60G. The name Jolly Green II was chosen as a reference to the legendary tradition of the Vietnam-era HH-3E Jolly Green and HH-53 Super Jolly Green crews who pioneered the combat search and rescue mission.
While the initial plan as part of the Combat Rescue Helicopter program was to acquire 113 “Whiskey” helicopters, the service later reduced the order to just 85. Based on the UH-60M, the HH-60W includes a number of improvements over the HH-60G, with a focus on range and survivability.
Modifications to the HH-60W include a digital radar warning receiver; laser, missile, hostile fire warning; integrated chaff and flares; cabin and cockpit armor; externally mounted 7.62 mm and .50 caliber weapons; LINK 16 military tactical data link network; Situational Awareness Data Link; integrated cockpit and cabin displays; advanced communications; Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast; tactical moving map displays; upturned IR-masking exhausts; and efficient wide-chord rotor blades.
Just two years after the first delivery and three after the first flight, the HH-60W reached the IOC (Initial Operational Capability) in 2022. Just a couple of days before the IOC declaration, Moody AFB completed the first rescue mission in the Jolly Green II, and within a month launched the first-ever operational deployment of the HH-60W.
The first deployment abroad of the new helicopter was largely kept under wraps, without few info and media released. While in the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa area of responsibility, the HH-60W performed the first combat CASEVAC (CASualty EVACuation).
With 37 HH-60G planned for divestment in 2024 and additional 12 in 2025, the HH-60W is now reaching all units across the Air Force. Aviano was the last active duty location to operate the older model, and now joins Moody AFB, Georgia, Davis Monthan AFB, Arizona, Nellis AFB, Kadena AB, Japan, Gabreski ANGB, New York, and Kirtlan AFB, New Mexico, which already operate the newer Jolly Green II.
