Testers from Nellis AFB, Nev., and Edwards AFB, Calif., teamed up earlier this month for HH-60G Pave Hawk door-gun live-fire testing at Edwards’ gun harmonizing range. “We needed to have a baseline for the GAU-18 dispersion, so we could prove whether the GAU-21 [machine gun] is an improvement or not,” test engineer 2nd Lt. Troy Mobley of Nellis’ 413th Flight Test Squadron Det. 1, said in a Feb. 26 release. “This is the first time in recent memory that we’ve done an HH-60 test” jointly between Edwards’ 412th Test Wing, and testers from Nellis, said 413th FLTS Test Director Maj. Maggie Sullivan. “I think there was a lot of education on both sides, but overall, it was a positive experience,” she added. Gun dispersion patter and barrel temperature data collected at Edwards will now be collated as a baseline for testing the GAU-21 .50 caliber weapon on the Pave Hawk later this year.
The last remaining T-1 Jayhawk at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, took its final flight to the "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on July 15. The 99th Flying Training Squadron will train pilots using T-6 and simulator until it gets T-7 Red Hawk in fiscal 2026.