Saudi Arabia to buy 17 Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters

Yamanyoon- Jan 13, 2018

Lockheed subsidiary Sikorsky has been awarded a $194 million contract for 17 UH-60M Black Hawk utility helicopters for Saudi Arabia, the U.S. Department of Defense said in a press release.

“Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Co., Stratford, Connecticut, was awarded a $193,850,000 firm-fixed-price foreign military sales (Saudi Arabia) contract for eight Saudi Arabian National Guard and nine Royal Saudi Land Forces Airborne Special Security Forces unique UH-60M aircraft,” the Thursday, January 11 release said.

Work is expected to be completed by December 31, 2022.

The ubiquitous Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a twin-engine, medium-lift utility helicopter which entered U.S. Army service in 1979. The UH-60 family has been exported to at least 26 nations. Black Hawks have been deployed in combat around the world, including in Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Somalia, the Balkans and Afghanistan.

The deal comes as the US is under pressure to suspend its arms sales to the Saudi regime, which has been waging a deadly military aggression against Yemen since 2015.

At least 13,600 people have been killed since the start of the war.

During his first trip to Saudi Arabia last year, President Donald Trump signed a $110 billion arms deal with the Saudis, with options to sell up to $350 billion over a decade.