HH-60 Blackhawks get extra firepower

[NutLoose]

They are now sporting twin mounts in the doorways

While exploring new ways to provide combat search and rescue teams with more firepower, the U.S. Air Force developed a doorway gun mount to arm its HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters (https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/19310/u-s-air-force-hh-60g-pave-hawk-helicopter-crashes-in-iraq-near-the-syrian-border) with four additional M240 machine guns. Built using repurposed armament parts, the solution would supplement the HH-60’s dedicated gunner aperture and offer a cheap way to increase the amount of lead that combat search and rescue helicopters could pump out by using equipment that is already in the inventory.

Pictures of the weapons system below

Twin Machine Gun Configuration Developed For HH-60 Helicopter Doors (msn.com) (https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/us/twin-machine-gun-configuration-developed-for-hh-60-helicopter-doors/ar-AA14tLZs?ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=baa10fb2485244b9a12738d3c274b5c2)

[SASless]

Two M-240's have far less capability than a single 7.62 Mini-gun.....which begs the question why not just mount a second mini-gun and do way with the M-240's altogether?

Is it a weight issue....weight of the gun and mount plus the sheer amount of ammunition the mini-gun eats up when firing?

Or is there some other reason that prevents that.

4800-5000 Rounds per minute from the mini-gun at full chat compared to 1300-1500 rounds per minute from the twin M-240's seems to challenge the value of the new Twin mount.

[PPRuNeUser0211]

Two M-240's have far less capability than a single 7.62 Mini-gun.....which begs the question why not just mount a second mini-gun and do way with the M-240's altogether?

Is it a weight issue....weight of the gun and mount plus the sheer amount of ammunition the mini-gun eats up when firing?

Or is there some other reason that prevents that.

4800-5000 Rounds per minute from the mini-gun at full chat compared to 1300-1500 rounds per minute from the twin M-240's seems to challenge the value of the new Twin mount.
The article suggests too much torque in the 50cal mount and too much power required for miniguns

[SASless]

Does not seem to be an insurmountable problem.....but I have. noticed the pairing of a single mini-gun on one side with a M2 .50 cal or M-240 on the other side and always wondered about that.

The MH-60 M Penetrator has a fit of two forward firing 7.62 Mini-guns and also has an option for two .50 cal three barreled mini-guns. as some sources mention.

It sounded like it could also be fitted with two 30mm guns found on the Apache.

I wonder what the rest of the story is about all of this?

[PPRuNeUser0211]

Does not seem to be an insurmountable problem.....but I have. noticed the pairing of a single mini-gun on one side with a M2 .50 cal or M-240 on the other side and always wondered about that.

The MH-60 M Penetrator has a fit of two forward firing 7.62 Mini-guns and also has an option for two .50 cal three barreled mini-guns. as some sources mention.

It sounded like it could also be fitted with two 30mm guns found on the Apache.

I wonder what the rest of the story is about all of this?
I suspect it's a solvable problem, but it sounds like part of the requirement was "need nothing new, only existing parts/procedures" which probably prevents something more solid. Part of an "innovate with what you've got" process. Lots of similar things springing up all over the US at the moment.