Wow...It's good to know that you guys could use the info and pics I gave ya. You're all over it! More to come by the way.
Gino and Grant are spot on. The bottom line is that the Block 152/162 and SPS upgrades all came in phases. Fortunately we (my squadron) are finally getting (already have got for the most part) the last phase of the upgrade. Some of the upgrades are internal and you'd never really know the difference with respect to modeling. A couple things.
Correct on the .50 cal. The only time I've ever seen them were at Nellis and onboard 66th RQS or 422 TES birds. Buuuuuttttt...hold the phone. Now that we've got the external gun mount system, we're getting ma dueces. That's right, I also talked to our weapons NCOIC and he confirmed it. They really are nice for stand off ranges, semi-hard target penetration, and checking the seals on the plexiglass (just kidding...sort of).
Grant is right about our loosing the towel rack HF antenna, but in his picture he shows a "new" antenna on the tail. Actually that antenna has always been there. It's an omni VHF/UHF antenna (I think) and is quite a bit sturdier than the ones I've seen on most UH-60's. At least as far as I remember (I don't really look at that stuff too often on the job). It's not a whip antenna rather a strudy steel (some other kind of metal) antenna.
Yeah, you'll see some birds still using the internal ammo bins and gun mounts, but they're going away pretty quickly. Basically as they come out of depot, they've got most of the new mods. Just depends where a particular squadron is at with respect to previous mods.
The TES guys and 66th RQS have the only birds I've seen with the MH-60L looking nose radar configuration. Wish I could tell ya why they have them, other than to say they are the test and evaluation/tactics guys for the USAF HH-60G fleet. The normal configuration for the radar is not nearly as FOD prone as the damn FLIR. Up here in Alaska we've really got to watch the damn thing to make sure we don't ding it.
The boxes I saw in the picture look like pyro boxes to me. At least that's what we use them for. We carry smokes and other stuff in there. The only time you'll see standard 7.62 ammo cans is when we're using the M-240. Then we've got a buynch of them stacked, but not in the rear...that's PJ real estate. Usually the ammo cans would be strapped down in the center or elsewhere near the gunner/FE.
Oh yeah, the gunner and FE's radio/comm/gun/SPS racks are ALWAYS there regardless of guns or not. And they do come with the CC set. The CC set gives you what's needed for a -60 in mid-upgrade. In other words it has the downward firing (fixed) chaff/flare dispensors on the sponsons and the single boxes (I think) on the tail (one on each side). The SPS mods changed all that and we've got the directional mounts with 6 total cans like Grant described. Basically the full suite of AN/APR-39/47 with plume detectors added to the sponsons at first and eventually to the nose. The tail configuration for the plume detector's and hockey pucks (spiral antenna radar detectors) were always the same. It also added the "Oh Shit!" buttons in the cabin. (sorry, but I just got off alert and I'm tired)
I think the Navy calls the 7.62 minigun the GAU-17. We call it a GAU-2B in the USAF and the Army calls it an M-134. We also don't officially call the ma duece an M-2, but hell.....it's always been Ma Duece to me....cause when she talks, EVERYONE listens.
Lot's of units use the twin tanks in the back, but some (like us) don't as Grant has described. We have a unit made rack for gear on the right rear bulkhead where we can stow PJ gear and hoist gear (and whatever the hell else we want). Understand that where what you would find inside the cabin is concerned, there will always be certain common mission items, but due to space constraints, we also tailor gear to specific mission requirements. For example, we're not gonna bring the tanks and drysuits if it's a mission up to Mt Mckinley, and we're gonna leave the crampons, ice axes and ropes for a water mission. We've ALWAYS got a stokes, a penetrator, a strope, an MA-1 kits, raft, survival sled (with gear) our own (PJ) medical bags, dropable radio kits, and a bunch of other crap I'm probably forgetting about. There's usually a bunch of damn commo wire bundled up (hopefully) and afixed to the ceiling or on the sides, and maybe even a few headsets. Understand that I'm talking about a bird that's ccked and locked on alert...a mission configured bird. You might see cleaner insides on training lines, but also understand that we usually use our alert bird for training lines. Give's us a quicker response time as we can just divert off the training flight, hit the tanker and press.
I'm sure I'm forgetting something but as I said I'm tired and about to hit the rack so I can pull another shift tonight. I will tell you ojne thing that's off topic (kinda) but you may find interesting....
One of our sticks got a tour up at NGB working on the CSAR-X program (evaluating/selecting the HH-60G replacement). Well you all probably know that the CV-22 pulled out of the running, but the US101 (H-71) and S-92 are still in there. Well since the CV-22 pulled out, Boeing has inserted a new competitor. You guessed it, the MH-47G. And I'll tell you this, considering that it's a known entity with a proven track record, tons of internal space, lots of power (especially at high altitudes and even in hot/high scenarios), it's jumped into the lead as the front runner as far as the operators (us guys on the line doing the mission) are concerned. Plus they're still building them. I'd guess it's mainly down to the MH-47 and the H-71. I'll keep you posted on what I hear.........
Good night,