Paris Air Show 2023: Lockheed Martin maps out Black Hawk upgrade path to 2070

With the Black Hawk still being built by PZL Mielec in Poland (pictured) and by Sikorsky in the US, parent company Lockheed Martin and the US Army have mapped out an upgrade path to keep the helicopter in operational service through to 2070. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)

Lockheed Martin has mapped out an upgrade plan that will keep the S-70 Black Hawk medium-lift helicopter in operational service with the US Army and international customers through to 2070.

Speaking to Janes and other defence media ahead of the Paris Air Show 2023 in early June, Anthony Tite, head of Business Development at Lockheed Martin UK, said that despite having half a century of operational life under its belt, the Black Hawk will continue to serve for another half century under plans outlined by the US Army.

“The Black Hawk has 50 years behind it and 50 years ahead of it, it is a mid-life aircraft!” he said.

To achieve this goal, Lockheed Martin will undertake a comprehensive upgrade and modernisation plan to be conducted via its Sikorsky and PZL Mielec subsidiaries in the US and Poland, respectively, the key elements of which Tite outlined during a media event at the PZL Mielec production facility.

The Black Hawk entered service with the US Army in 1978, since when the EH-60A, EH-60L, UH-60A, UH-60L, UH-60V, UH-60M, and HH-60M standards have been developed through three ‘generations' of technologies and capabilities, as defined by Lockheed Martin.