New Black Hawks for Taiwan

On 7 October 2020, six new UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters were offloaded from a cargo vessel in the port of Kaohsiung in Taiwan. The Black Hawks are destined for the National Airborne Service Corps (NASC).

The NASC is a branch of the Ministry of the Interior. Among its missions are air search and rescue, emergency medical services and disaster relief. The Taiwanese government ordered 60 UH-60M Black Hawks in 2009 for the Army, Air Force and the NASC. The latter was to receive fifteen Black Hawks. Nine of those are already in service with the NASC at various stations scattered over Taiwan, meaning that with the arrival of the six examples the full order has been completed.

The helicopters were towed through the streets of Kaohsiung from the port to the airport during the night. From photos of this operation it can be deduced that the serial range for the new helicopters is NA-710 to NA-715 (US serials 27320, 27323, 27330, 27331 respectively 27332), which fits the serial range of the previous nine, ranging from NA-701 to NA-709.

On the photos it is visible that the helicopters are partly painted in olive green and partly in primer, suggesting that the final paint scheme will be applied in Taiwan.  The UH-60M has been operational with the NASC since 2015. The helicopters already in service are based at Hualien air base (Northern Region, First Brigade), Taichung air base (Middle Region, Second Brigade) and Taitung air base (Southern Region, Third Brigade) 

The six new helicopters will be divided between Songshan airport (Taipei, Northern Region, First Brigade) and Kaohsiung airport (Southern Region, Third Brigade). Since its introduction into service, one example, NA-706, was lost at sea on 5 February 2018. Next to the UH-60M, the NASC also operates eight SA365N1 Dauphin helicopters and one Beech 200.

Photos: Tsungfang Tsai