UH-60 Black Hawk

 

The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-bladed, 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. The Army designated the prototype as the YUH-60A and selected the Black Hawk as the winner of the program in 1976, after a fly-off competition with the Boeing Vertol YUH-61.

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. Modified versions have also been developed for the U.S. Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. In addition to U.S. Army use, the UH-60 family has been exported to several nations. Black Hawks have served in combat during conflicts in Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Somalia, the Balkans, Afghanistan, and other areas in the Middle East.

Role	Utility helicopter
Manufacturer	Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation
First flight	29 November 1974
Introduction	1979
Status	In service
Primary users	United States Army Republic of Korea Army Colombian Armed Forces Turkish Armed Forces
Produced	1974–present
Number built	about 4,000
Unit cost	UH-60: US$21.3 million (avg. U.S. procurement, 2012)
Developed from	Sikorsky S-70
Variants	Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk Sikorsky HH-60 Jayhawk