Loop turned into military training ground

16-Apr-12 – (Above) Seen from Marina City, a Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk, the U.S. Air Force version of the Army’s Black Hawk, flies past 55 West Wacker late Monday afternoon. Traveling with two other helicopters, it made at least three passes over the main branch of the Chicago River, turning south each time and riding off into the sunset. (Photo by Steven Dahlman.)

The Pave Hawk – notice the forward-looking infrared gear on the nose that the Black Hawk does not have – was in town for a routine military training exercise.

According to a news release on Monday from Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications, Chicago is providing support for the exercise through Thursday.

“This routine training is conducted by military personnel in cities across the country, designed to ensure the military’s ability to operate in urban environments as service members meet mandatory training certification requirements and prepare for upcoming overseas deployments.”

The Pave Hawk can fly as fast as 183 miles per hour, as high as 14,000 feet, and has a range of 445 miles. It currently serves in Afghanistan and Iraq and saw action in Panama and Desert Storm. Also seen buzzing downtown were MH-6 Little Bird helicopters, used by the Army for observation.

(Below) Another view of one of the helicopters passing LaSalle and Wacker, captured by Anita Lambert. (Click on images to view larger versions.)