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Australia says ‘goodbye Taipans, hello Black Hawks’

18th January 2023 - 00:27 GMT | by Gordon Arthur in Christchurch

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Australia is procuring the UH-60M Black Hawk to replace its MRH90 Taipan fleet. (Photo: Gordon Arthur)

After considerable dithering over the fate of the MRH90 helicopter fleet, Australia has made a decision to replace the European-designed type.

Australia has confirmed its replacement of the MRH90 Taipan helicopter fleet with American-built Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawks.

On 18 January, the government announced its procurement of 40 Black Hawks for the Australian Army. This is the same quantity as the US State Department’s approval on 25 August last year.

The acquisition is worth an estimated $A2.8 billion ($1.96 billion) if all options are exercised under US approval.

The new Black Hawks will operate out of Oakey in Queensland and Holsworthy in New South Wales.

The wording by Australian officials was rather vague, so it is unclear whether the contract

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Author

Gordon Arthur

Gordon Arthur was the Asia Pacific editor for Shephard Media. Born in Scotland and educated …

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