Tennessee aquatic rescue team upgrades helicopters

Tennessee National Guard is upgrading its UH-60L Lima model Black Hawk helicopter to a UH-60V Victor. The modernization enhances the service’s avionics, flight safety and mission capabilities, particularly in search and rescue operations.

“The new Victor model is a major leap in technology,” said Captain Adam McCollum, an Operations Officer at AASF. “The Victor model provides a moving map display, real-time positional awareness, and more intuitive monitoring of engine readings, temperatures and pressures.”

The integration of forward-looking infrared technology, a thermal imaging system that detects heat signatures, will allow pilots to track their hoist operators from below through darkness, fog and smoke.

The Tennessee Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team (HART) will use the UH-60V’s capabilities during annual training exercises and real-world missions across the state’s rivers, lakes and flood-prone areas.

HART, a state-coordinated program involving the Tennessee Army National Guard and the Nashville Fire Department, provides rapid-response rescue in high-risk environments such as floods and natural disasters. The team includes National Guard aircraft and aircrew and Nashville Fire Department paramedics and rescue divers.

Last year Tennessee Guardsmen were deployed to east Tennessee wildfires in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.