New multi-year US Army UH-60M Black Hawk contract

Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, a Lockheed Martin subsidiary, has won its tenth five-year contract valued at USD 2,3 billion for 120 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters with options for an additional 135 aircraft for the US Army and other Foreign Military Sale (FMS) customers. First deliveries will start in July 2022 and will continue through 2027.

With this new multi-year contract, the US Army is saving USD 387 million for the base quantity, when compared to total anticipated costs of carrying out the program through annual contracts.

While the US Army is gearing up to award a contract to either Bell or a Sikorsky-Boeing team to build the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) intended to replace the Black Hawk, it was stated that the Black Hawk will remain in service for years to come and will be phased out slowly over time as the FLRAA starts deliveries from 2030.

On 5 May 2021, Scramble Magazine reported on the final Request for Proposal (RFP) for the US Army's Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA). It is anticipated that the vendor will be chosen in 2022 and that the US Army will launch directly the engineering and manufacturing development phase of the programme.

The US Army also reported that it nearing an agreement with Boeing on its second multi-year contract for the AH-64E Apache Guardian.

Photo by Django Bruinink (Scramble Archive)