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World desk5 min

15 Military Helicopters Faster Than the Black Hawk? 8 Speeds Verified

Eight helicopters have cited speed figures above the UH-60M Black Hawk’s approximate 160-knot benchmark, but the figures mix cruise and maximum speeds. Seven more candidates lack verified variant-specific figures here.
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Eight helicopters in the available figures exceed the approximately 160-knot UH-60M Black Hawk benchmark—but their numbers do not all measure the same thing. The fastest figure here belongs to the S-97 Raider, a prototype, not a standard frontline fleet aircraft. Seven other helicopters are worth checking, but the available figures do not establish that they are faster.

What counts as faster than a Black Hawk?

“Black Hawk” covers several variants with different performance. This comparison uses about 160 knots for the UH-60M, as listed in a Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) comparison table. It is a practical reference point, not a speed specification for every UH-60. A maximum airspeed, a cruise speed and a combat mission speed are also different measures; the figures below are labeled accordingly rather than treated as a controlled, like-for-like ranking.

Entries are ordered by the cited figures converted to knots where possible. The order is useful for orientation, not proof that one aircraft would be faster than another in identical operating conditions.

Eight helicopters with figures above the UH-60M benchmark

Helicopter and exact variant or scope Published speed figure Role and qualification
S-97 Raider More than 220 knots Light tactical prototype; Lockheed Martin describes a coaxial-rotor design with a pusher propeller.
MH-60 Seahawk (Navy H-60 family fact-file figure) 180 knots maximum airspeed Naval H-60 derivative; the Navy fact file gives this figure for the family, not a separately specified subvariant here.
Tiger HA-28 175 knots cruising speed Attack helicopter; speed listed by Spanish Army equipment data.
Mi-24 Hind (variant not specified in the cited data) 310 km/h, about 167 knots, high-speed cruise The Czech Ministry of Defence figure is a cruise measure, not necessarily a never-exceed speed.
CH-47F Chinook 170 knots Heavy-lift tandem-rotor helicopter; CSBA comparison-table figure. An Army aviation report separately gives 130 knots cruise for CH-47D/F, illustrating why metric labels matter.
AH-64E Apache 164 knots maximum combat mission speed Attack helicopter; the U.S. Army lists 145 knots for the AH-64D and 164 knots for the AH-64E.
NH90 (maximum-cruise figure at 10,000 kg) 300 km/h, about 162 knots NHIndustries lists 300 km/h maximum cruise at a stated aircraft weight of 10,000 kg.
Mi-28N Havoc 300 km/h, about 162 knots maximum speed Attack helicopter; Army Technology reports this maximum-speed figure.

S-97 Raider: the highest figure, with a prototype caveat

Lockheed Martin says the S-97 Raider can exceed 220 knots. Its coaxial rotors and pusher propeller distinguish it from conventional tail-rotor designs. That figure makes it the fastest entry in this comparison, but the Raider is a prototype rather than a standard operational fleet helicopter, so it should not be read as a frontline fleet-speed record.

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MH-60 Seahawk: a naval H-60 at 180 knots

The U.S. Navy fact file gives the H-60 naval family a maximum airspeed of 180 knots. That is above the UH-60M reference, but the published figure cited here is not broken out by Seahawk subvariant.

Tiger HA-28: a cruise-speed figure

The Spanish Army lists 175 knots cruising speed for the Tiger HA-28. Since this is a cruise figure, it should not be directly equated with the maximum-speed values for the Apache or Mi-28N.

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Mi-24 Hind: fast cruise, not a maximum-speed claim

Czech Ministry of Defence equipment data gives the Mi-24 a high-speed cruise figure of 310 km/h, approximately 167 knots. The cited data does not specify a variant, so the number should not be assigned to every Mi-24 version.

CH-47F Chinook: heavy lift does not mean slow

The CSBA table lists 170 knots for the CH-47F. An Army aviation report gives 130 knots cruise for CH-47D/F, a different metric and model grouping. Those figures should not be collapsed into one supposed operating speed. A tandem-rotor heavy-lift helicopter is designed around a different rotor and propulsion arrangement from a conventional tail-rotor utility helicopter; speed alone does not describe its payload or mission capability.

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AH-64E Apache: variant changes the comparison

The U.S. Army’s 2014 AH-64E fact sheet lists maximum combat mission speed as 164 knots for the E and 145 knots for the D. Against the UH-60M reference, the E clears the comparison while the D figure does not. This is one reason “Apache speed” or “Black Hawk speed” without a variant can mislead.

NH90: maximum cruise at a stated weight

NHIndustries lists a maximum cruise speed of 300 km/h, approximately 162 knots, at 10,000 kg. That stated weight belongs with the figure: it is not an unqualified maximum-speed claim for every NH90 configuration.

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Mi-28N Havoc: a maximum-speed figure

Army Technology reports 300 km/h, about 162 knots, as the Mi-28N’s maximum speed. It is just above the approximate UH-60M benchmark, but the source’s figure and the benchmark are not presented as results from one common test.

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Seven additional candidates that cannot be confirmed as faster here

The following aircraft are relevant to a broader comparison, but the available information does not establish a variant-specific speed above the UH-60M benchmark for each. They should not be ranked as confirmed faster aircraft on the basis of these entries.

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  • CH-53E Super Stallion: A historical comparison chart gives approximately 280 km/h, about 151 knots. That is below the approximately 160-knot UH-60M reference, and the chart’s test context is not specified here. It therefore does not support including the CH-53E among confirmed faster helicopters.
  • Ka-52 Alligator: A likely comparison candidate, but no variant-specific speed figure is established here.
  • Z-10: A potential candidate, but an exact official speed figure is not established here.
  • AW101 Merlin: Performance depends on the transport, utility or naval variant; a specific figure for a specific variant is not established here.
  • AW159 Wildcat: Its speed may depend on variant and load, but no verified variant-specific figure is established here.
  • Denel Rooivalk: An attack-helicopter candidate, without a confirmed speed figure here.
  • AH-1Z Viper: The NAVAIR page used for this comparison does not publish a maximum speed, so it does not substantiate a numerical ranking.

Why speed does not settle which helicopter is better

Maximum speed is only one design axis. A heavy-lift helicopter may prioritize carrying capacity; an attack helicopter carries weapons, armor and mission systems; a utility aircraft must meet its own range and mission requirements. A prototype built to demonstrate a high-speed design is not directly comparable to an operational aircraft performing routine missions. For a practical comparison, consider the exact variant, speed metric, payload, range, survivability and mission equipment—not the headline number alone.

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