An important milestone has been left behind in the new combat search and rescue helicopter program.

Test activities continue in the HH-60W Jolly Green II program, which was launched within the scope of the new search and rescue helicopter requirement of the the US Air Force (USAF). The platform completed the extreme weather tests on April 2. Jolly Green II has passed tests at the McKinley Climate Laboratory the in the Eglin Air Force Base, located in Florida. In the laboratory, which has a 5,110 sq m closed area, the ambient temperature of the helicopter was increased to 49 degrees Celsius. In the following process, the limits of the platform were tested in an environment chilled down to -51 degrees Celsius. The avionics, electronics, engines and other systems of the helicopter were individually controlled in the extreme conditions where the wind blowing at a speed of 72 km / h and the environment 490 kg of rain per minute were simulated. In addition, the platform's accessibility to all control interfaces and the ergonomics of the cockpit were also tested with the thick winter hardware used by pilots in the cold climate environment.

Developed to replace 113 HH-60G Pave Hawk deployed in USAF inventory, Jolly Green II's were developed through the UH-60 Black Hawk family, just like its predecessor. HH-60W stands out with components such as advanced control system, digital cockpit and modern avionics. The U.S. has already ordered 22 from the platform, which has aerial refuelling capability.