Sikorsky wins contract from Brazilian Air Force to provide logistics support.

According to a press release published by Lockheed Martin on July 27, 2021, Sikorsky has received a four-year contract from the Brazilian Air Force to provide logistics support for the service’s 16 UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters. The contract will improve fleet sustainment resulting from local storage of commonly required spare parts, assistance from a regional Sikorsky field service technician, and direct technical support from Sikorsky Engineering.

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Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter (Picture source: Airliners)

The Brazilian Air Force acquired its 16 Black Hawk aircraft via Foreign Military Sales between 2006 and 2013.

The Air Force contract is modeled after a multi-year logistics support agreement between Sikorsky and the Brazilian Army. In 2019, after previous agreements with the Army, the flight availability rate of the four Army S-70A (UH-60L equivalent) Black Hawk aircraft reached a 100 percent readiness.

The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift utility helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky submitted the S-70 design for the United States Army's Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System (UTTAS) competition in 1972.

Named after the Native American war leader Black Hawk, the UH-60A entered service with the U.S. Army in 1979, to replace the Bell UH-1 Iroquois as the Army's tactical transport helicopter. This was followed by the fielding of electronic warfare and special operations variants of the Black Hawk. Improved UH-60L and UH-60M utility variants have also been developed.

The UH-60 features four-blade main and tail rotors, and is powered by two General Electric T700 turboshaft engines. The main rotor is fully articulated and has elastomeric bearings in the rotor head. The tail rotor is canted and features a rigid crossbeam. The helicopter has a long, low profile shape to meet the Army's requirement for transporting aboard a C-130 Hercules, with some disassembly. It can carry 11 troops with equipment, lift 2,600 pounds (1,200 kg) of cargo internally or 9,000 pounds (4,100 kg) of cargo (for UH-60L/M) externally by sling.