Austria, Sweden Get U.S. Nod to Acquire Black Hawk Helicopters

The State Department has approved potential Foreign Military Sales to Austria and Sweden of UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters and related logistical and program support.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has notified Congress of these possible sales.

Austria has requested twelve UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, along with twenty-six T700-GE-701D engines, fifteen AN/AAR-57 Counter Missile Warning Systems (CMWS), and thirty H-764U Embedded Global Positioning Systems with Inertial Navigation (EGI) equipped with country-unique selective availability anti-spoofing modules or future M-Code replacements. Additional non-major defense equipment includes various radar systems, emergency locator transmitters, enhanced heads-up displays, electro-optical and infrared systems with laser designators, engine inlet barrier filters, ballistic armor protection systems, auxiliary fuel tank systems, and various rescue and operational equipment. The estimated cost for Austria is $1.05 billion.

Sweden has requested twelve UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, thirty T700-GE-701D engines (24 installed and 6 spares), and seventeen AN/AAR-57 CMWS. Additional equipment includes radar warning receivers, laser detecting sets, automatic direction finder radio receivers, tactical air navigation systems, radar altimeters, emergency locator transmitters, enhanced ballistic armor protection systems, auxiliary fuel tank systems, and various rescue and operational equipment. The estimated cost for Sweden is $900 million.

The principal contractor for both sales will be Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky, located in Stratford, CT.