Sikorsky Aircraft has been awarded a multi-year contract by the US Army - worth $2,278,598,185 - for the acquisition of up to 255 H-60M Black Hawks.
The firm-fixed-price contract, awarded on June 27, covers procurement of 120 H-60Ms and related support for fiscal years 2022-2026. It also includes options for an additional 135 of these helicopters for both the US Army and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Work will be performed in Stratford, Connecticut, with deliveries beginning in July 2022 and an estimated completion date of June 30, 2027. Initial financing of $478,127,856 from US Army fiscal year 2022 aircraft procurement funds was released at the time of the contract award. If all options are exercised, the contract has a potential eventual total value of up to $4.4bn.
The ‘Multi-Year X’ award covers both UH-60M Black Hawk and HH-60M MEDEVAC aircraft and marks the tenth multiple-year contract between Sikorsky and the US government for H-60 helicopters. Sikorsky notes that it continues to modernize and enhance the Black Hawk to meet the US Army's challenging and evolving missions by continuously delivering aircraft thanks to a hot production line, mature well-established supply chain and digital factory.
The US Army inventory includes more than 2,100 H-60 variants and it continues to be the workhorse and backbone of US Army Aviation. Although the Army continues to develop its Future Vertical Lift (FVL) capabilities, it will continue to operate the H-60M for the next several decades and alongside the future fleet.
Col Calvin Lane, the Utility Helicopters project manager, 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.”
Nathalie Previte, vice president of Sikorsky's Army and Air Force programmes, said: “Decades of Black Hawk production and enhancements, strong program execution and close partnership with the Army has kept the program thriving and this contract is a testament to that success. Additionally, we continue to see strong international interest in the Black Hawk due to its versatility and proven record of providing unwavering support to the US and nations around the globe. Sikorsky continues to invest in the Black Hawk platform – from sustainment to digital transformation and modernization – in order to provide our customers with the competitive edge they require. 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.”
