The US government has awarded Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky business a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) contract to provide 35 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters for the Hellenic Army, Lockheed Martin announced on 29 October 2024.
The US State Department approved an FMS covering the 35 UH-60Ms and related equipment for Greece on 15 December 2023 in a package estimated to be worth USD 1.95 billion (EUR 1.81 billion). The Greek government then signed a letter of offer and acceptance for the aircraft on 5 April 2024.
“Our partnership with Greece spans decades, and we are pleased to see the nation’s continued trust in Sikorsky helicopters as Greece will benefit from an integrated Hawk family of aircraft supporting national security and humanitarian missions,” Hamid Salim, Sikorsky’s vice president of army and air force systems, was quoted as saying in a Lockheed Martin press release. “The Black Hawk helicopter offers Greece a range of operational capabilities and a global ecosystem of more than 5,000 Hawk aircraft operated by 36 countries around the world,” he added.
With its existing S-70B fleet and newly acquired MH-60R maritime helicopters for the Hellenic Navy, Greece will operate several variants of the Hawk family and benefit from the operational and sustainment advantages of fleet commonality, Lockheed Martin noted.
Greece will be the 12th European country to operate the Black Hawk helicopter. In 2024 the US government has awarded Sikorsky contracts to manufacture and deliver a total of 84 UH-60Ms to countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South America, “further proving the Black Hawk is the premier multi-role utility helicopter around the globe”, the company asserted.
On 23 October 2024 Sikorsky also received UH-60M contract awards to grow the Black Hawk fleets in Austria, Brazil, Sweden and Thailand. In July 2024 Sikorsky received Black Hawk contracts for Croatia and Jordan, while in June 2024 Romania also added to its fleet of S-70 Black Hawks, which share the same pedigree as the UH-60M.
