Black Hawks now in production

In the United States of America, the production of the first batch of the 9 Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk utility helicopters, which the SVK MOD purchased under the US Government’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme for the SVK Armed Forces, has already been launched. “The production has been in progress according to the plan. And so is true of the pilots and technicians training at a U.S. Armed Forces training facility,” said SVK Minister of Defence Peter Gajdoš. The purchase of the Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk utility helicopters is the largest modernisation project in the history of the SVK Armed Forces. The US machines are set to gradually replace the Slovak military’s Mi-17 helicopter fleet which is nearing the end of its life cycle. The helicopter fleet replacement process was initiated by the previous MOD leadership. As Minister Gajdoš emphasised on several occasions, he is committed to implementing the modernisation projects launched earlier in a most transparent manner.