Austria to acquire three more Black Hawk helicopters

Austrian armed forces are to acquire three more S-70 Black Hawk helicopters under the country’s Civil Protection Package, the government announced on February 1, 2019.

The additional airframes will take Austria’s total number of Black Hawks to 12. The first new aircraft will be delivered to Austria in 2021.

The nine existing S-70A-42 (UH-60L) Black Hawks are also undergoing an avionics upgrade programme, which is expected to be completed by 2021.

The Black Hawk has been in service with the Österreichische Luftstreitkräfte (Austrian Air Force) since 2002 and the fleet has flown in excess of 25,000 hours without accident.