Slovakia's Defense Ministry seriously considering purchase of nine UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters

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World Defense & Security News - Slovakia
 
 
Slovakia's Defense Ministry seriously considering purchase of nine UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters
 
Slovakia Defense Minister Martin Glvác has recently unveiled plan for purchasing nine Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk medium transport helicopters in order to replace the country's fleet of Russian-made Mil Mi-17 'Hip' rotorcrafts. The deal is estimated to be worth up to $348 million, reports local newspaper Pravda.
     
Slovakia Defense Minister Martin Glvác has recently unveiled plan for purchasing nine Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk medium transport helicopters in order to replace the country's fleet of Russian-made Mil Mi-17 'Hip' rotorcrafts. The deal is estimated to be worth up to $348 million, reports local newspaper Pravda. Slovakian Armed Forces currently use 14 Russian-made Mi-17 "Hip" medium multi-purpose helicopters
     
The US has offered to broker the sale of Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk tactical multirole military helicopters to Slovakia via the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) fund. Defence Minister Martin Glvác plans to inform the Security Council, Government and the Parliamentary Defence Committee about the offer by the end of January, he told the press on January 12.

“There’s an offer to purchase Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters according to requirements we’ve arrived at based on a feasibility study, the planned development of Air Force and past bilateral talks attended by experts from both countries,” Glvác said, as quoted by the TASR newswire. “If purchased via the US Fund accepted in the EU, the deal would guarantee a lower price than the manufacturer would otherwise give to any other client.”
Glvác underlined that it is only an offer at this stage, with other options still on the table. New helicopters are needed to replace Soviet Mi-17s.

The replacement is slated to occur within six years, with nine new machines due to be purchased in the first phase and the rest to be purchased and delivered gradually. The price for the first batch of helicopters – including training and maintenance – should not exceed €300 million.

According to Chief of the General Staff Milan Maxim, such procurement would make the Slovak army interoperable with NATO allies and enjoy lower operational costs.

“It is specifically this type of helicopter that would be fully suitable for tasks we need them for,” said Maxim, as quoted by TASR.