Lockheed Martin has teamed with Sikorsky to offer an enhanced version of the UH-60M Black Hawk to replace the USAF’s fleet of 112 HH-60G Pave Hawk combat search and rescue helicopters.
The two companies had previously partnered to offer the H-92 for the last iteration of the CSAR-X competition which was won by Boeing’s HH-47 offering before being overturned on appeal by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO).
“Our team has the resources and experience to rapidly deliver the proven UH-60M airframe design with mature situational awareness sensors and mission systems,” said Scott Starrett, president of Sikorsky Military Systems in a statement. “We believe a UH-60M aircraft missionised for the complexities of the combat search and rescue mission will fit seamlessly into established Air Force training and logistics operations, thus providing a fiscally responsible and reliable platform for rescue operations.”
The UH-60M is a substantially upgraded version of the venerable Black Hawk which features a strengthened airframe, more powerful engines, wider chord rotor blades and advanced avionics.
