RunningMan
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Published: Wednesday, September 14, 2011, 5:05 PM
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- In a formal ceremony today marking the culmination of more than three years of work on Redstone Arsenal, Patricia Martin handed the logbook and keys of a brand-new, highly modified UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter over to Michael Kostelnik, assistant commissioner of the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine.
Kostelnick, who is also a retired Air Force major general, looked like a man who'd just taken delivery of a custom-built car.
The glistening black UH-60 with gold trim delivered Wednesday is the first of four that CBP crews will fly from the arsenal in the coming months.
Kostelnick said these new, higher-performing and more capable Black Hawks will be important additions to their fleet of aircraft. The four are destined for the Miami Air Branch, where they will support operations in Florida, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.
He reminded everyone that CBP agents have been killed by drug cartels in violence spilling over U.S. borders. The well-funded cartels are using more sophisticated weapons and technology, so the new Black Hawk's special sensors, armor, navigation and communications technology that allows coordination with law enforcement on the ground are needed now.
"It's built to Army combat standards so it includes armor and protections that we might need," Kostelnick said of the new helicopter, which is not itself armed. "It brings the unique warfighting capabilities that the military deploys in high-threat areas overseas to similar high-threat areas in the homeland should those type of activities materialize."
http://blog.al.com/huntsville-times-business/2011/09/black_hawk_helicopter.html
It is comforting to know that the DHS will have new high-tech weapons to fight high-threat areas in the homeland should those type of activities materialize.
Published: Wednesday, September 14, 2011, 5:05 PM
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- In a formal ceremony today marking the culmination of more than three years of work on Redstone Arsenal, Patricia Martin handed the logbook and keys of a brand-new, highly modified UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter over to Michael Kostelnik, assistant commissioner of the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine.
Kostelnick, who is also a retired Air Force major general, looked like a man who'd just taken delivery of a custom-built car.
The glistening black UH-60 with gold trim delivered Wednesday is the first of four that CBP crews will fly from the arsenal in the coming months.
Kostelnick said these new, higher-performing and more capable Black Hawks will be important additions to their fleet of aircraft. The four are destined for the Miami Air Branch, where they will support operations in Florida, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.
He reminded everyone that CBP agents have been killed by drug cartels in violence spilling over U.S. borders. The well-funded cartels are using more sophisticated weapons and technology, so the new Black Hawk's special sensors, armor, navigation and communications technology that allows coordination with law enforcement on the ground are needed now.
"It's built to Army combat standards so it includes armor and protections that we might need," Kostelnick said of the new helicopter, which is not itself armed. "It brings the unique warfighting capabilities that the military deploys in high-threat areas overseas to similar high-threat areas in the homeland should those type of activities materialize."
http://blog.al.com/huntsville-times-business/2011/09/black_hawk_helicopter.html
It is comforting to know that the DHS will have new high-tech weapons to fight high-threat areas in the homeland should those type of activities materialize.
