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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Army is exploring “novel contracting approaches” for future Black Hawk helicopter procurement beyond its current multi-year deal with Sikorsky [LMT], a lead official said Thursday.
Col. Ryan Nesrsta, project manager for the Utility Helicopters Project Office, told reporters that assessments to date have affirmed a likely need to continue procuring new build Black Hawks as part of a future strategy for the enduring fleet and to meet sustained interest from international customers.
“We believe that to sustain the Black Hawk and ensure its viability in 2050 and beyond, we have to procure new build aircraft. We have to commercially modify it or access the fleet that we have already fielded. So we have to have a means of integrating those new capabilities on the platforms. And then obviously, we have to engage our organic industrial base in a significant way to ensure that those aircraft are sustainable and in a good maintenance status,” Nesrsta said in a briefing at the Army Aviation Association of America’s annual conference here.
Ken Demaree, Sikorsky’s vice president of Army and Air Force systems, said the company was working with the Army to “define what that next production contract is,” as the current 10th multi-year deal is set to conclude next year.
“I’ll say that…given the budget pressures we just talked about, as well as the high [Foreign Military Sales] demand and the best funding, we’re trying to figure out what the right vehicle is for that. But right now, [a] multi-year is still a discussion as well as a multiple year conversation. So we’re working through what the right flexibility is that the customer needs,” Demaree said.
The Army and Sikorsky in June 2022 signed the latest multi-year Black Hawk contract, awarding the company a five-year deal worth $2.3 billion for delivery of 120 H-60M helicopters (Defense Daily, June 27, 2022).
With options, the Army noted the 10th multi-year deal for Black Hawks could potentially be worth $4.4 billion and the deal now covers more than 270 helicopters, to include aircraft for FMS customers.
Demaree noted Sikorsky, to date, has delivered 148 of the Black Hawks on contract under the current multi-year award and recently received an advanced procurement award to support long-lead items for the next tranche of helicopters.
“We want to continue onto the next production line in ‘28, so we needed to start to buy those parts,” Demaree said.
Army officials have previously said the service’s decision on whether to award another multi-year contract for Black hawk helicopters could be reflected in its FY ‘27 budget request, with full details expected to be rolled out next week, while a budget line document released on April 3 included just $39.3 million for one UH-60M Black Hawk next fiscal year (Defense Daily, April 3).
“As far as the budget, we’re going to buy the budget,” Nesrsta said, while those figures may change as the appropriations process continues through the year.
On the future procurement strategy for Black Hawk, Nesrsta said he “can’t speak to the Army’s intent beyond this current contract” while adding “there is a scenario where new build production, commercial modification and aircraft passing through the organic industrial base is in everyone’s shared interest,” again citing the “incredibly healthy FMS demand” for the platform.
Demaree said Sikorsky’s discussions with the Army on next steps beyond the current multi-year deal have included “being more flexible and agile in terms of the quantities.”
“Obviously…in a multi-year [contract], there’s a lot of consistency there. And then if it’s a multiple year contract, it looks a little different. So we need to figure out what that looks like and the efficiencies that you gain and lose in either contract model. But we’ve been collaborating and figuring out what the right model is going forward as we work through this,” Demaree told reporters.
Boeing [BA] on Wednesday offered a similar outlook related to its Apache attack helicopter, which also received a cut in the FY ‘27 budget documents released to date, with a company executive telling Defense Daily that future procurement of the platform may not necessarily involve a new multi-year deal and that the Army could potentially use “alternative contracting solutions” (Defense Daily, April 15).
The Army is currently pursuing an accelerated timeline for its Bell [TXT]-built MV-75 Cheyenne II tiltrotor platform, with plans to equip a unit with the first 24 aircraft in FY ‘30, while Nesrsta reiterated the Army sees that platform as a complementary or supplemental to the Black Hawk rather than a replacement (Defense Daily, April 15).
“We have done some analysis on our side in appreciation of the [MV-75 FLRAA’s] accelerated schedule that we will have to operate Black Hawks in 2050 and beyond, substantial numbers of aircraft,” Nesrsta said. “What we’re doing right now with the Black Hawk, I believe, is we’re seeking out platform-agnostic solutions that enable not only our mission sets but also those of MV-75. So we’re doing tech maturation and risk reduction on the aircraft now, and I think that will lend to an inherently complementary nature moving forward.”
Nesrsta noted the Army also does Black Hawk exchange sales for older aircraft through the General Services Administration to private owners or commercial entities, and then puts that funding into buying new replacements.
“So we are exercising investments on top of the budgets and any Congressional adds that are received to procure new aircraft. So I would say that if you were to look at the budget, don’t take that as that is the only source of resourcing that allows for the procurement of aircraft,” Nesrsta said.
