Australia secures approval for Black Hawk acquisition
26 August 22
Atturra Limited, a technology services business in designing, implementing and maintaining A multi-billion-dollar proposal to procure the multi-mission helicopters for the Australian Army has been greenlit by the US State Department.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has announced the approval of a proposed foreign military sale of 40 Sikorsky-built UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters and related equipment to the Australian Army, valued at approximately US$1.95 billion (AU$2.79 billion).
This comes just over eight months after the former Morrison government sent a letter of request to the United States as part of a provisional assessment process designed to inform a prospective purchase.
Following preliminary discussions between industry and former defence minister Peter Dutton, it was reported six Black Hawks could be available from Sikorsky’s 2022 global production line, with the remaining platforms potentially delivered by 2026.
The UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters are expected to replace the Army’s fleet of 47 Airbus-built MRH-90 Taipan helicopters, currently in service as Army’s utility aircraft.
This came amid ongoing concerns over the Taipan’s performance, with the platform failing to meet contracted availability requirements in light of a series of technical shortcomings.
In June 2021, Defence suspended flying operations of its Taipan fleet as a “safety precaution” after an issue relating to the aircraft’s IT support system was identified.
Source: Defence Connect