Sikorsky's new production-ready kits are intended to enable one Black Hawk aircraft to perform air-assault, close-support, medevac, ISR, and tactical lift missions. (Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company)
Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, on 15 April announced the production of Sikorsky ‘Armed Black Hawk' kits designed to expand the aircraft's capabilities to include airmobile assault; close support; medical evacuation; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), and tactical lift.
UH-60 (S-70) Armed Black Hawk operators will be able to select from close support or precision strike “production-ready kits”, which can be reconfigured in three hours contingent on the mission, according to the company. Tthe capabilities can be integrated at the onset or upgraded later via modular armament wings.
“The new Armed Black Hawk kits give warfighters one aircraft that can do it all: a single ... platform where ground units can quickly switch out the commercially-produced kits,” Sikorsky Vice President and General Manager Rich Benton said in a 15 April Sikorsky statement.
According to Sikorsky, the configuration enables each pilot to operate up to four weapon stations housed on two external wings. Each wing is capable of equipping a mix of a fixed 12.7 mm gun, 7 or 19‑shot Hydra 70 rocket pods, or air‑to‑ground missiles. The pilots can also control two forward-firing 7.62 mm miniguns mounted at the cabin windows, Sikorsky said.
The new capabilities are part of a push to ensure the Black Hawk remains in operation through the 2070s, delivering a fleet capable of assault, transport, and support functions.
Sikorksy said that the kits are available via Foreign Military Sale (FMS) or Direct Commercial Sale (DCS), with LMS backed by Lockheed Martin and DCS options backed by PZL Mielec in Poland.
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