The US Government has awarded a five-year contract worth nearly $2.3bn to Sikorsky to produce 120vH-60M Black Hawk helicopters.
The contract has options and, if fully exercised, will take the total number of aircraft to 255 and value to up to $4.4bn.
The “Multi-Year X” contract to procure UH-60M Black Hawk and HH-60M medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) aircraft is the tenth such contract between Sikorsky and the US for H-60 helicopters.
US Army Utility Helicopters project manager colonel Calvin Lane said: “This multi-year agreement allows the Army to meet current and future capability needs through upgrades, remanufacturing, replacement, and technology insertions.
“The efficiencies of this contract make the best use of limited resources and result in direct savings to the Army and to taxpayers.”
Deliveries of the helicopters to the US Army and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers will begin in July and continue through to 2027.
A Lockheed Martin company, Sikorsky has been upgrading the Black Hawk series to meet the US Army’s various missions.
Sikorsky Army and Air Force programmes vice-president Nathalie Previte said: “We have aligned our investments with the Army’s technology roadmap while leveraging Future Vertical Lift technologies to ensure the Black Hawk will be a key player in the Joint All Domain Operations environment and FVL ecosystem.”
The US Army inventory holds nearly 2,100 H-60 variants of the Black Hawk, which has been catering to the needs of the Army’s aviation wing and supporting its efforts to enhance Future Vertical Lift capabilities.
A multi-mission combat assault utility helicopter, the H-60M Black Hawk provides digital avionics, active vibration control, smooth handling qualities, and situational awareness, as well as survivability.
