COMPARED TO MANY a warbird, the Air Force’s newest helicopter seems positively peaceful. It carries no Hydra rockets or Hellfire missiles, just a pair of .50 caliber machine guns—you can’t float about totally unarmed, after all. That’s because this chopper prioritizes saving lives over taking them. Sikorsky’s HH-60W is a flying ambulance, a medical evacuation aircraft designed to dip into combat zones, pick up the injured, and whisk them to safety. Instead of using precious lifting capability for missiles and rockets, it hauls extra fuel, configurable stretchers, and a hoist to pluck wounded fighting men and women out of areas the helicopter cannot land.
