How long does it take for a country to push 4 Black Hawk helicopters into service?

Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk is a famous American military helicopter. It took off for a maiden flight in 1974 and has been in service since 1979. It’s been employed by a large number of countries around the world, because it is a really versatile platform. And since the threat of Russia has increased again, many countries have been looking into purchasing and pushing Black Hawk helicopters into service. But how long does it actually take to integrate 4 brand-new Black Hawks?

Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk has been in service since 1974 and is used by a large number of countries. Image credit: slezo via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 2.0)

This might seem like a bit of a weird question. But the UH-60M Black Hawk is a complex aircraft. It is a twin-engine helicopter with medium-lift capabilities, 4 bade main rotor and important tactical tasks.

Its predecessor in the U.S. Army the Bell UH-1 Iroquois was a legend in its own right, but the Black Hawk is a much larger and more capable aircraft. In order to accept it into service a country needs to take care of training – not just of air crews, but also technicians. They also need to understand maintenance and tasks and stock the most commonly replaced components. 

Latvia recently introduced two UH-60M helicopters into the Latvian Air Force, 2 more are on order. And this is an important detail – the contract to purchase these helicopters was signed in September 2018 (by the way, it cost Latvia 175 million euros).

So it took more than four years for the first Black Hawks to reach Latvia. The remaining two helicopters should reach the middle Baltic State by the end of this year. This means that the time period between the contract and the actual adoption of the helicopters will be five years.

Also an interesting note, Latvia is not the only Baltic state that will operate Black Hawks soon – Lithuania has 4 on order with deliveries scheduled to begin in late 2024. Just like Latvia, Lithuania will use the UH-60M version.

There are many versions of the Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter, optimized to perform specific tasks. Image credit: Nehemia Gershuni-Aylho via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The UH-60M Black Hawk is one of the utility versions of the type with an improved design, wide chord rotor blades, stronger 1,500 kW engines, improved gearbox, new glass cockpit, Integrated Vehicle Health Management System and other upgrades. This version of the Black Hawk entered production in 2006 and is among the most popular ones in the family.

The Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk is 19.76 m in length, including the rotors, and has a 16.36 m main rotor. It weighs 5,675 kg when empty. It is crewed by two pilots, but two other people can operate guns, if there are any, or perform other duties. The UH-60M can carry 1,450 kg internally. This cargo can be 11 troops with all kinds of gear. It can also carry 4.1 tonnes externally, which is an impressive capability.

The maximum speed of the UH-60M Black Hawk is 294 km/h and it cruises at 282 km/h. It can be armed by a couple of machine guns and, if equipped with stub wings, a variety of missiles and rockets. 

The Black Hawk is a legendary helicopter and it will add a lot of capability to the Latvian and Lithuanian air forces.

Sources: Defence-ua.com , Wikipedia.

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