US soldiers conduct training with M139 Volcano Mine Dispenser mounted on UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter.

According to pictures released by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) on 23 June 2020, U.S. soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division conducted Volcano system training using a UH-60 Blackhawk at Makua Range, Hawaii June 23, 2020, to qualify crews for upcoming training.

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U.S. soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division conducted Volcano system training using a UH-60 Blackhawk at Makua Range, Hawaii June 23, 2020 to qualify crews for upcoming training. (Picture source U.S DoD)

The 25th Combat Aviation Brigade is a Combat Aviation Brigade of the United States Army's 25th Infantry Division based at Wheeler Army Airfield.

The 25th Combat Aviation Brigade provides Multifunctional Aviation support to the 25th Infantry Division to conduct Decisive Actions in support of Unified Land Operations. Additionally, trains to be ready to deploy a scalable force in support of emerging requirements/contingencies in the U.S. INDO-PACOM (United States Indo-Pacific Command) AOR (Area Of Responsibility) or anywhere in the world.

In the U.S. armed forces, the M-136 Volcano mine system can be mounted on a 5 ton military truck as the M939, on M977 Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck, and on UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter.

The M139 Volcano Mine Dispenser is a system that provides soldiers with a scatterable mine capability that can be mounted on a helicopter or land vehicles. The system is designed to lay a field of up to 960 mines (160 canisters) at an average density of 0.9 mines per meter front.

The M139 Volcano can be fitted with two types of canister including M-87 Canister loaded with 1 AP (anti-personnel) mine and 5 AT (anti-tank) mines or M-87A1 Canister with 6 AT (anti-tank) mines. These mines have three self-destruct settings varying from 4 Hours, 48 Hours, or 15 days.

The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift utility helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. The UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter is the U.S. Army’s primary medium-lift utility transport and air assault aircraft.

The UH-60 Blackhawk is in service with the US Army since 1978, and variants of the Blackhawk are operational or have been ordered by 25 international customers: the Argentine Air Force, Royal Australian Army, Bahrain, Brazil, Brunei, Chile, Colombian Air Force, Egypt, Greece, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan Self Defence Force, Jordan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, People’s Republic of China, Royal Saudi Land Forces Army Aviation Command, the Turkish Jandarma, Spain, The Philippine Air Force, Taiwan, and Thailand.

The Black Hawk can be armed with two M60D 7.62mm machine guns on the M144 armament subsystem and can disperse chaff and infrared jamming flares using the M130 general purpose dispenser. It can be fitted with laser-guided Hellfire anti-armour missile. It can carry 16 Hellfire missiles using the external stores support system (ESSS).