The SikorskyAn American aerospace manufacturer and a global leader in rotary-wing aviation, founded in 1923 by aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky. The company is hist... More S-70 Black Hawk A25, a medium utility helicopter developed in the 1970s as the UH-60, entered Australian service with 39 S-70A-9s produced locally from 1988-1991 for RAAF/Army troop transport and support in Cambodia, East Timor, and Pakistan. Retired in 2021 amid MRH-90 issues, up to 40 UH-60M variants are planned for replacement by 2026.
The SikorskyAn American aerospace manufacturer and a global leader in rotary-wing aviation, founded in 1923 by aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky. The company is hist... More S-70 is an American medium transport/utility helicopter family manufactured by SikorskyAn American aerospace manufacturer and a global leader in rotary-wing aviation, founded in 1923 by aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky. The company is hist... More Aircraft. It was developed for the United States Army in the 1970s, winning a competition to be designated the UH-60 Black Hawk and spawning a large family in U.S. military service. New and improved versions of the UH-60 have been developed since. Civilian versions, and some military versions are produced under various S-70 model designations. Australia ordered fourteen S-70A-9 Black Hawks in 1986 and an additional twenty-five Black Hawks in 1987. The first US produced Black Hawk was delivered in 1987 to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). de Havillandde Havilland Aircraft Company: A seminal British aerospace manufacturer founded in 1920 by Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, recognized for its radical innov... More Australia produced thirty-eight Black Hawks under license from SikorskyAn American aerospace manufacturer and a global leader in rotary-wing aviation, founded in 1923 by aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky. The company is hist... More in Australia delivering the first in 1988 and the last in 1991. In 1989, the RAAF’s fleet of Black Hawks was transferred to the Australian Army. The Black Hawks saw operational service in Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, East Timor and Pakistan. In April 2009, the then-defence chief Air chief marshal Angus Houston, told the government not to deploy Black Hawks to Afghanistan as at the time they “lacked armor and self-defense systems”, and despite an upgrade to address this underway, it was more practical to use allies’ helicopters. In 2004, the government selected the Multi-Role Helicopter (MRH-90) Taipan, a variant of the NHIndustriesNHIndustries (NHI): A prominent European aerospace consortium established in 1992 to act as the focal point for the design, development, and productio... More NH90, to replace the Black Hawk even though the Department of Defence had recommended the S‐70M Black Hawk. In January 2014, the Army commenced retiring the fleet of thirty-four Black Hawks from service (five had been lost in accidents) and had planned for this to be completed by June 2018. The Chief of Army delayed the retirement of 20 Black Hawks until 2021 to enable the Army to develop a special operations role capable MRH-90. On 10 December 2021, the Black Hawk was retired from service.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_S-70
Australia ordered fourteen S-70A-9 Black Hawks in 1986 and an additional twenty-five Black Hawks in 1987. The first US produced Black Hawk was delivered in 1987 to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). de Havillandde Havilland Aircraft Company: A seminal British aerospace manufacturer founded in 1920 by Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, recognized for its radical innov... More Australia produced thirty-eight Black Hawks under license from SikorskyAn American aerospace manufacturer and a global leader in rotary-wing aviation, founded in 1923 by aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky. The company is hist... More in Australia delivering the first in 1988 and the last in 1991. In 1989, the RAAF’s fleet of Black Hawks was transferred to the Australian Army. The Black Hawks saw operational service in Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, East Timor and Pakistan. In April 2009, the then-defence chief Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, told the government not to deploy Black Hawks to Afghanistan as at the time they “lacked armor and self-defense systems”, and despite an upgrade to address this underway, it was more practical to use allies’ helicopters. In 2004, the government selected the Multi-Role Helicopter (MRH-90) Taipan, a variant of the NHIndustriesNHIndustries (NHI): A prominent European aerospace consortium established in 1992 to act as the focal point for the design, development, and productio... More NH90, to replace the Black Hawk even though the Department of Defence had recommended the S‐70M Black Hawk. In January 2014, the Army commenced retiring the fleet of thirty-four Black Hawks from service (five had been lost in accidents) and had planned for this to be completed by June 2018. The Chief of Army delayed the retirement of 20 Black Hawks until 2021 to enable the Army to develop a special operations role capable MRH-90. On 10 December 2021, the S-70A-9 Black Hawks were retired from service. On the same day, amid issues with the performance of the MRH-90s the government announced that they would be replaced by up to 40 UH-60M Black Hawks. The government is yet to place an order. The Australian reported that is hoped that six UH-60Ms maybe delivered in 2023 with all deliveries completed by 2026.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_UH-60_Black_Hawk#Australia
