$352.2M to Sikorsky in Black Hawk Helicopter Contracts
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United Technologies subsidiary Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford, CT received a $245 million contract to make 22 new generation UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters for the U.S. Army, company officials said Monday. First deliveries are set to begin in July 2006, and the contract contains options for another 8 helicopters.
Contracts for project systems management and for UH-60L “plus-ups” were also announced by the U.S. DoD.
The UH-60M is designed to replace the older UH-60A Black Hawk and is the centerpiece of the Army’s long-term effort to modernize the service’s medium-lift helicopter fleet. It provides additional payload and range, advanced digital avionics, better handling, active vibration control, improved survivability, and a new “glass” cockpit including modern flight control computers with fully coupled autopilot.
A decision on whether to buy more than 1,200 UH-60M additional aircraft is scheduled for 2007, and the Army plans to equip a combat unit with the UH-60M in early 2008. Sikorsky Aircraft has manufactured the Army Black Hawk since 1978.
Sikorsky also received a $72.2 million modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for project systems management for the UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, and a $35 million modification for plus-ups of the Army’s UH-60L Black Hawks. Work will be performed in Stratford, CT and is expected to be complete by Dec. 31, 2007. These were sole source contracts initiated on Oct. 4, 2000 by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, AL (DAAH23-02-C-0006).
These contract awards came after Sikorsky recently lost a $6.1 billion contract to build the next generation of presidential helicopters to the Lockheed-Augusta US101 design. Sikorsky was also affected by the Army’s 2004 decision to drop its $38 billion Comanche program, which was a joint venture with Boeing Helicopters.
Sources & Additional Reading
- NBC30 Connecticut (June 7/04) – Sikorsky Wins $245 Million Helicopter Contract
- U.S. DoD DefenseLink Releases
- GolbalSecurity.org: UH-60M
- CNN (Feb. 23/04) – Army Cancels Comanche Helicopter
