Greece authorized to acquire up to 35 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters

The US Government authorized the possible sale to Greece of up to 35 UH-60M Black Hawk military helicopters and associated equipment for US$1.95 billion.

Ads

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) issued a statement informing of the possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to the Government of Greece, which requested the purchase of the following major items:

• 35 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters
• 80 T700-GE 701D engines (70 installed, 10 spares)
• 44 AN/AAR-57 Common Missile Warning Systems (CMWS) (35 installed, 9 spares)
• 85 H-764U integrated global positioning systems with inertial navigation (EGI) and country unique selective availability anti-spoofing module (SAASM) (or future replacement) (70 installed, 15 spares)
• 85 AN/ARC-231A VHF/UHF/LOS SATCOM radio systems

The list of equipment ordered (the number of which is not mentioned) includes a wide variety of secure communications systems, navigation, ground support equipment, advanced instrumentation, spare parts, training, transportation, etc.

See also: Hellenic Air Force selects Leonardo AW139 as its new SAR helicopter

As for specialized equipment, mention is made of the possible sale of an unspecified number of L3Harris MX-0D EO/IR gimbals (with laser designation capability), weather radars, ESSS (External Stores Support System) external supports for hanging additional fuel tanks and various armaments, supports mounted for multi-tube miniguns and M-240 machine guns; as well as elements to perform rescue or special operations missions such as the Fast Rope Insertion Rapid Extraction System (FRIES) and External Rescue Hoists (ERH).

Ads

The Black Hawks that Greece is seeking to acquire are intended to replace the Bell UH-1 Iroquois in its armed forces. If negotiations are successful, deliveries to the Hellenic Army are not likely to begin until three years after the contract is signed, given Sikorsky’s large order backlog.