Photos: US Army's Black Hawk goes high-tech

Digital maps are a key part of the UH-60M makeover, giving Black Hawk pilots a quickly updated and dynamic sense of their whereabouts. Chief warrant officer 4, Gene McNeill, said: "With a digital moving map you know exactly where you are with relationship to the earth. It enables you with ease and comfort to navigate, fly and execute your mission a lot better because you also don't have to do manual calculations. That also allows one pilot to fly the aircraft while the other serves as the mission operator."

McNeill has been serving as a UH-60M test pilot and trainer at Sikorsky.

Another improvement in the M version is new seats for both the pilots and the crew that are intended to reduce back injuries in the event of a hard landing. The pilot seats allow the occupants to digitally dial in their weight to provide more customised shock absorption.

Photo credit: J.D. Leipold/Army News Service