WASHINGTON \u2014 No surprise here: Sikorsky will propose a derivative of its ubiquitous Black Hawk utility helicopter for the Air Force’s Huey replacement program, according to an announcement Tuesday.
According to Sikorsky, the HH-60U has the capacity to transport nine fully equipped security force personnel, their equipment, and two special mission aviators \u2014 meeting the service\u2019s troop carrying requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the Air Force has stated that none of the current industry options currently meets all of its requirements. The service has pushed its request for proposals release date from February to this summer, giving industry time to assess how to modify their offerings to meet requirements using non-developmental technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Sikorsky spokesman was not able to comment on whether the HH-60U meets Air Force specifications as currently designed, or whether adjustments will be necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Black Hawks are pervasive in the U.S. military, which could provide an advantage to Sikorsky in a lowest-price, technically-acceptable competition. The HH-60U shares 85 percent commonality with the Air Force\u2019s incoming HH-60W combat rescue helicopter. Both models will go into production during roughly the same timeframe, which could allow the company to wring out savings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Sikorsky also noted that the U-model could leverage the same support infrastructure as the HH-60G Pave Hawks, which are being retired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Sikorsky\u2019s HH-60U Black Hawk offers a proven, capable helicopter that is already in the Air Force\u2019s inventory to meet the critical needs of the UH-1N Huey Replacement Program,” said Samir Mehta, president of Sikorsky defense systems and services. “It is a low-risk solution for the Air Force that will enable the service to support two vital national defense missions while realizing the long-term cost savings of the Black Hawk platform.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Air Force plans to buy 84 UH-1N replacement helicopters for ICBM security support, continuity of government, airlift and other missions. It still intends to award a contract in fiscal year 2018, with deliveries occurring as early as fiscal 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
No surprise here: Sikorsky will propose a derivative of its Black Hawk helicopter for the Air Force\u2019s Huey replacement program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":114004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":15,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[15,88],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3297],"class_list":["post-135323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-your-military"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"LKEGFA7OIBFD7FCSE367N7SQZM","arc_canonical_url":"\/digital-show-dailies\/air-warfare-symposium\/2017\/02\/28\/as-expected-sikorsky-to-offer-black-hawk-for-huey-replacement-contest\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n