US Army and Sikorsky agree $2.3 billion UH-60 Black Hawk multiyear deal

The US Army and Sikorsky have reached an agreement for a tenth UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter multiyear production contract worth $2.3 billion. 

The deal covers the production of 120 UH-60M aircraft with an option for an additional 135 helicopters on offer to US Army, other government agencies and FMS customers. 

Should such an option be exercised, the total contract value would 'potentially' rise to $4.4 billion, the US Army noted in a 27 June statement.

First helicopter deliveries under the new contract are to begin as early as July 2022 and run until 2027. 

'Actual procurement quantities will be determined year-by-year' over the life of the programme, 'based on funding allocations set by Congress and Pentagon acquisition priorities', the US Army added. 

The UH/HH 60M is a digitally networked platform with 'greater range and lift' to support manoeuvre commanders through air assault, C2, general support and aeromedical evacuation, it claimed. 

'It has a powerful propulsion system that can be used to perform tactical transport, utility, search and rescue, airborne assault, command and control, medical evacuation, aerial sustainment, disaster relief, and firefighting.' 

The US Army has more than 2,100 UH-60 helicopters in its inventory, according to figures from Sikorsky, with the manufacturer noting in a separate 27 June statement that it 'continues to modernise and enhance' the aircraft, set to be operational for the 'next several decades'. 

As the US Army phases the UH-60 fleet out, it will decide on whether to acquire Sikorsky and Boeing's Defiant X or Bell's V-280 Valor tiltrotor under the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) programme. A decision on that front is expected soon.