Airmen get an up-close look at the HH-60W Jolly Green II combat rescue helicopter during an official welcome ceremony at Aviano Air Base, Italy, Jan. 10, 2025. (Brian Erickson/Stars and Stripes)
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy — Airmen in the 31st Fighter Wing have their transition to a new cutting-edge combat rescue helicopter underway, putting Aviano’s fleet of two HH-60W Jolly Green II aircraft on display for the first time.
On Friday, the wing held an official welcome ceremony for the Jolly Green II, which serves as the Air Force’s replacement for the venerable HH-60G Pave Hawk.
Aviano received its first of the new helicopters last month and is scheduled to have a total of six by October.
It was crucial to bring the Jolly Green II to Aviano because the helicopter was specifically designed to operate in a joint theater like U.S. European Command, Lt. Col. Theodore Rodgers, the wing’s division chief for the HH-60W program integration office, said Friday. The Jolly Green II has a wider core blade and weighs about 4,000 pounds less than the Pave Hawk, offering pilots more power and allowing the aircraft to carry more equipment, ammunition and passengers, Rodgers said.
The helicopter is made by Sikorsky, which also produces the Army’s Black Hawk. It represents a significant boost in capabilities over its precursor, with better avionics, threat detection and countermeasures as well as greater fuel capacity, according to the Air Force.
The name Jolly Green II pays homage to the Vietnam War-era Sikorsky HH-3E Jolly Green and HH-53 Super Jolly Green, whose crews are regarded as the pioneers of aerial combat search and rescue, the Air Force said in 2020.
The upgrades reflect a focus on protecting crews and evacuees in hostile environments, Air Force Air Education and Training Command said in a December statement.
Later in December, Aviano airmen took a farewell flight in a Pave Hawk, giving a sendoff to a combat rescue helicopter that enjoyed a long run of use in saving American service members all over the globe.
The Jolly Green II provides the agility, survivability and lethality needed on future battlefields, 31st Fighter Wing commander Brig. Gen. Tad Clark said in a speech Friday.
“This moment, although exceptional, is not just about the arrival of the new aircraft; it’s about embracing the challenges of today,” Clark said.
