On February 22, the Philippine Department of Defense (DND) signed a $624 million contract to purchase Black Hawk helicopters from Lockheed Martin’s PZL Mielec for the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The contract is for the manufacture of 32 additional Sikorsky S-70i Black Hawk utility helicopters for the Philippine Air Force (PAF). Delivering all 32 aircraft by 2026 will enhance the Pakistan Air Force’s operational capability to perform search and rescue missions, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and troop transport throughout the archipelago nation.
PAF’s 205th Tactical Helicopter Wing will receive all 32 aircraft in utility configuration. Each aircraft will feature a fully integrated digital cockpit with a quadcopter coupled flight director, color weather radar, Integrated Vehicle Health Monitoring System (IVHMS), cabin crew seats and a 9,000 lb (4,082 kg) cargo hook . As part of the contract, pilots and maintenance personnel will be trained in the United States and the Philippines.
“After the typhoon Odettethe Philippine Air Force has shown the world how its recently acquired Sikorsky S-70i Black Hawk fleet, designed and built to the strictest military standards, can quickly and reliably deliver emergency personnel and supplies to island dwellers in vast oceans,” Said Jason Lambert, vice president of global commercial and military systems at Sikorsky.
The 32-aircraft contract in the Philippines is the largest single Black Hawk helicopter order for PZL Mielec since production of the S-70i began in 2009. The contract was signed in December 2021 two months after PZL Mielec completed the delivery of 16 S-70is to PAF’s 205th tactical helicopter. Deliveries of the S-70s began in November 2020, and one crashed during a night training exercise in Tarlac on June 23, 2021, killing six people on board.
David Oliver
