First Of Six To Support Mexico's Law Enforcement Efforts
The U.S. Department of State has delivered three UH-60M Black
Hawk helicopters to the Government of Mexico's Federal Police (FP).
The aircraft are the first of six advanced helicopters designed to
support Mexico's law enforcement operations as part of the Merida
Initiative, a security cooperation agreement between the two
countries.
UH-60M File Photo
The three UH-60M aircraft expand the Federal Police force's
existing fleet of seven UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters. Operational
since 2008, those aircraft have become a critical law enforcement
tool for disaster relief, troop transport, rescue, surveillance,
and in the fight against organized crime and illegal drug
trafficking across Mexico.
The UH-60M, which was first flown by the U.S. Army in
2006, is equipped with an advanced flight control system to
reduce pilot workload, and an infrared camera for night operations.
"Use of the forward looking IR sensor, and this Black Hawk
helicopter's superior lift range and speed will further enhance the
capabilities of the Federal Police to perform their very important
law enforcement mission," said David L. Powell, Sikorsky Vice
President of Sales for the Americas.
At a Mexico City reception to recognize delivery of the UH-60M
helicopters, Sergei Sikorsky, son of Igor Sikorsky, who designed
the first viable helicopter in the 1930s, remarked that helicopter
operations in Mexico had lived up to his father's ardent desire
that rotary wing aircraft be deployed for humanitarian
purposes.
In the summer of 1945, his father accompanied a 1945 scientific
expedition to photograph the interior of Mexico's erupting
Paricutin volcano. The U.S. Army Air Corps and the Government of
Mexico arranged for a Sikorsky R-6A helicopter to fly above the
crater to help scientists observe the volcano's interior during
more than 100 flights at altitudes as high as 8,000 feet. It is
believed the flights were the first ever by a helicopter in Mexico,
and the first to conduct scientific observations of an active
volcano.
File Photo
Then in early October 1955, helicopters were again deployed to
Mexico, this time by the U.S. Marine Corps from aboard the light
aircraft carrier USS Saipan. Their mission: to evacuate thousands
of Yucatan residents stranded by flooding caused by Hurricane
Janet.
"The thousands of trapped residents whose lives were saved by
the biggest helicopter rescue operation of its time was a great
source of pride and pleasure to my father," said Sergei. "I am
proud to recognize the excellent work of the Mexico Federal Police
to use Sikorsky helicopters for law enforcement."