The AH-60L “Arpía IV” (english: Harpy eagle) is an interesting attack helicopter of the Black Hawk family developed by the Colombian Aerospace Force as an armed alternative for deterrence with the help of Israel and Sikorsky Company that uses a very diverse combination of modern weapons and systems to fight in conventional wars.
Tecnical Data
Basic Information
Crew: 2 pilots/2 gunners
Heigth: 5.23 m
Length: 15.19 m
Width: 2.96 m
Empty Weight: 5376 kg
Maximum Take-off Gross Weight: 9979 kg
Internal Load: 1320 kg
External Load (with ESSS): 3640 kg
Power Plants: 2 T700-GE-701C Engines with 1940 hp each
Spoiler
Performance
Max Speed: 285 km/h
Cruise Speed: 268 Km/h
Max Ceiling: 5700 m
Service Ceiling: 4572 m
Autonomy: 2 hours - 7 hours with externals fuel tanks
Integrated Avionics
ALL-IN-SMALL (Elbit Systems)
RWR-LWS-MAWS-DIRCM
HMI Management
CFDS - Chaff/Flare Dispensing System
AHFI
MFCD: 4 Multifunction Displays ARNIC
HMD: ANVIS/HUD-24 (NVG capability)
Datalink System
Electro-Optic Payload (EOP): TOPLITE III (FLIR-LRF-CCD)
This three-barrel machine gun is mounted as a weapon pod on the Arpía IV, and is also installed on the sides and operated by gunners; is already included in the game.
It is a 20mm cannon pod developed by the French company Nexter that contains 250 cartridges and a rate of fire of 750 rounds per minute at a distance of over 2000m.
For high-value targets, the AH-60L Arpía IV features missiles from Rafael Systems’ Spike family.
Spike LR: 4 km range
Spike ER: 8 km range
Spike NLos: 25 km (Upgraded to 32 km)
The Colombian Aeronautical Industry Corporation (CIAC in Spanish) is developing the level 4 armor for the Arpía IV, with a steel sheet on the floor of the aircraft and armored glass.
Colombia is the largest operator of the UH-60 Black Hawk in Latin America and one of the largest in the world, with more than 100 units in service in the Air Force, the Army and the police. The first units were acquired in 1988 as part of the modernization of counterinsurgency capabilities with the S-70A series, and improved versions such as the UH-60L were gradually acquired and the S-70i more recently.
In 1995, due to the restrictions that the US government imposed on the sale of sophisticated weapons to Colombia and the need for an armed platform that would serve as an escort for the transport Black Hawks in the internal armed conflict, the Colombian Aerospace Force (FAC) began the Project “XM95” converting the first UH-60L to AH version integrating 7.62mm GAU-2B machine guns pods and rocket launchers into the winglets, giving rise to the AH-60L “Arpía”.
This new modification of the Black Hawk was successfully tested in 1995 and entered service for escort and close air support missions for troops. In 1998, the experience of this platform laid the foundations for a later modification, called Arpía II that was introduced with new weapons and avionics systems: the machine guns were upgraded to 12.7mm GAU-19s were also installed in the doors increasing the helicopter’s firepower capability. The FAC incorporated NVG capabilities since 1992 in its BELL “Rapaz” helicopters, for this reason, the Arpía were equipped with the Anvis-5 NVG systems.
In 2002, the FAC appointed a commission to evaluate improvements to the Arpía II and signed an agreement with the American company Sikorsky and the Israeli company Elbit to develop the “Arpía III”. This development equipped the helicopter with new weapons delivery systems as well as modernizing the avionics with new equipment such as the MiDash HUD for pilots, introducing Toplit II electro-optical systems for target detection and engagement, and an missile self-protection system Airmor from the Israeli company IMI.
Finally, the FAC again appointed another commission to study a new update of the Arpía, and in 2015, the most modern and improved version was presented: the AH-60L “Arpía IV,” envisioned as a strategic deterrent and implementing a modernization capable of conventional warfare. The FAC currently operates 12 of these aircraft and is planning a new improved version with AA capabilities and improved armament, modernization described above at first.
+1 for the Israeli tree! Looks like a perfect Premium/Squadron/Event counterpart to the Israeli Battlehawk. Wouldn’t be opposed to it being a continuation in the line after the Battlehawk too.
I’d like to add two things to the discussion that I didn’t include in the suggestion because they haven’t been officially confirmed conclusively, but are very possible:
Capability to be armed with Python 3/4 AA missiles for anti-aircraft defense.
Capability to carry two long-range Delilah cruise missiles (air-to-ground, air-to-sea).
Both weapons are confirmed in the Colombian arsenal, and I hope to find more conclusive sources. Thanks for the support.
P.S.: I’d like to see it in the Israeli TT game to maintain the logic of vehicles bearing my country’s flag.
The Arpía IV is basically a Black Hawk, what makes it unique is that its idea and development are completely national (Colombia) but with great technological and weaponry input from Israel.
It’s not basically a Blackhawk. It’s exactly a Blackhawk.
They took a MH60L DAP bird and stripped the US only equipment off of it and sold it to Columbia as the AH-60 because they wanted a COIN aircraft and they loved the Blackhawks that we had been using in the COIN operations we were playing with in Hondo and Columbia.
Neither its idea nor its development is strictly Columbian, outside of the name. It shares design history and things have gone both way from the Arpía II/III and now IV and the AH60 Battlehawk and DAP’s.
from arpia III it stopped being just a “blackhawk” the systems are different the engine is stronger the weapons are different, do you call j16 a su30? its a development of blackhawk but not a blackhawk
The J16 is developed from the J11, which is a licensed production of the SU-27. So no it’s not a SU-30. It incorporates some of the things they learned with the 30, but it’s not the same.
The Arpía is built in the same factory as the Blackhawk, in Hartford Connecticut and uses the same airframe, engines, and powertrain. All of the weapons used by the Arpía are capable of being used by the MH60 DAPs from which it was originally developed.
It is the exact same base airframe, to the nut and bolt and the only significant difference between an L model DAP and an ArpÍa is the ASE (aircraft survivability equipment) and the brand of MFDs. There are minor differences between them and some of the mission specific equipment but you see the same thing between the various aircraft of any fleet as well.
You could take the 5 pack ( Main transmission, accessory transmissions and input modules) and rotor head off and drop them directly into a L model Blackhawk, tighten the bolts and fly it away. Litterally the same aircraft down to the part numbers of the transmissions being the same.
I greatly appreciate your support for this suggestion, but I am very correct about the history of the development of this vehicle; you did not read the story well. It is because the US did not accept the sale of attack helicopters to countries like COLOMBIA (not Columbia) at that time, the FAC had to take advantage of the UH-60L (S-70 series) because they needed to escort transport helicopters, the development was indeed engineered by Colombia (thanks to the ingenuity of officers Captain Javier Herrera, Captain Hernando Barrera). You are correct when you compare the Arpía with the DAP but those are totally separate stories. The United States did not sell the Arpía to Colombia, only the Black Hawk transport helicopters, Colombia developed the Arpía II, III and IV with collaboration from Sikorsky Company and Israel Aeronautic Industries. If you have another question, pls let me know.
That’s because the facts of the story are a little bit off.
Thats kind of like saying a Hennessy Mustang or a Lingenfelter corvette is no longer a Mustang or a Corvette because an aftermarket shop has worked on it.
Yes, I mentioned in a previous comment that there are leaked images, but I haven’t found any official documentation to confirm it. However, those images do exist. Thank you very much for your input. It would be fantastic if, when the “ARPIA IV” is included for Israel TT, they also included the DELILAH missile in the near future.
It is a loitering cruise missile that is confirmed to be in the FAC’s arsenal.
