On August 25, 2022, the US Department of Defense Agency for Military Cooperation (Defense Security Cooperation Agency - DSCA) sent a notification to the US Congress about the possible sale of 40 Sikorsky (Lockheed Martin) UH-60M Black Hawk multi-purpose helicopters to Australia through the US program of intergovernmental foreign military sales Foreign Military Sales (FMS) at the request of the Australian government. This delivery is approved by the U.S. Department of State. The total cost of the proposed delivery will be $1.95 billion, including training and technical support packages.
The Sikorsky S-70A-9 Black Hawk multi-purpose helicopter of the Australian Army Aviation (c) Nigel Pittaway / Air International Recall that in December 2021, Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton announced his decision to purchase 40 American Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk multi-purpose helicopters for the early replacement of European multi-purpose Airbus Helicopters MRH90 helicopters in the Australian Army aviation Taipan (NH90).
The Australian Army received 47 MRH90 Taipan helicopters from 2008 to 2017, but these helicopters have earned a bad reputation for low reliability and combat readiness and high maintenance costs. As a result, it was decided to start replacing them (41 MRH90 helicopters are currently in service with army aviation) with UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters from 2025.
Previously, the Australian Army Aviation had already operated Black Hawk helicopters in the S-70A-9 version (an export version of the UH-60A modification), having received 39 vehicles from 1987 to 1992. Ironically, these S-70A-9s were then replaced by MRH90 Taipan (NH90) helicopters, the main part of the S-70A-9 was decommissioned in Australia in August 2014, but several vehicles continue to be operated to support the actions of special operations forces and are planned for final decommissioning at the end of 2022. In March 2021, the Australian Ministry of Defense announced the sale abroad of 27 S-70A-9 helicopters.
Similarly, in 2021, the Australian government decided to purchase 29 American Boeing AN-64E Apache Guardian combat helicopters to replace 22 Airbus Helicopters Tiger ARH reconnaissance and attack helicopters received in 2004-2010 in the Australian Army aviation. From the very beginning, the Tiger ARH helicopter caused criticism of the Australian military due to low technical reliability and combat readiness, high cost of exluation, as well as insufficient combat capabilities, especially in the communication and control system. Deliveries of new AN-64E helicopters under the American FMS program should begin in 2025.
