The USAF has ditched the CSAR-X project to find the next generation of combat search and rescue helicopter, and instead will buy more Black Hawk helicopters and modify these for the role.
Speaking to US media, USAF Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz said “a successor model” of the current HH-60 Pave Hawk CSAR variant of the Black Hawk (pictured) would be acquired, adding that it’s “a pretty good airplane; it’s not a perfect rescue airplane; but it can operate at altitude; it’s a resilient airframe; it’s proven.”
The previous CSAR-X contract was awarded to Boeing’s HH-47 Chinook in 2006, only to be overturned by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) after losing bidders Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky appealed the decision.
