STRATFORD, Conn., Oct. 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Sikorsky, A
Lockheed Martin Company (NYSE: LMT), delivered the
1,000th H-60M BLACK HAWK helicopter to the U.S. Army
today in a ceremony held in Stratford,
Connecticut. The event was attended by distinguished guests
from the U.S. Army, government officials, the Defense Contracting
Management Agency, industry suppliers, and Lockheed Martin
employees.
Speakers included Brigadier General Robert L. Marion, Program Executive Officer,
U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Aviation; Colonel William
"Billy" Jackson, Project Manager, Utility Helicopters, U.S. Army
Program Executive Office; Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy; U.S. Senators for Connecticut, Richard
Blumenthal and Chris Murphy;
U.S. Representative for Connecticut's 3rd Congressional
District, Rosa DeLauro; and Sikorsky
President Dan Schultz.
During the ceremony, Brigadier General Robert L. Marion said, "The UH-60 is often
referred to as the workhorse of Army Aviation and as such your
efforts here, past, present, and future are critical to the
continued defense of our nation. The rollout of the
1000th UH-60M BLACK HAWK marks an important outcome of
our Aviation Modernization Plan, and these aircraft will transform
our aviation fleet to a more flexible, capable, and ready
team."
Sikorsky delivered the first UH-60M BLACK HAWK helicopter in
2007 and the first HH-60M MEDEVAC helicopter in 2008. Today's
ceremony marked the delivery of the 792nd UH-60M and the
208th HH-60M helicopters. The 'Mike' model helicopters
represent the Army's third standard baseline H-60 BLACK HAWK
aircraft version in the 38-year production history of the program.
The newest models feature more powerful engines than older
variants, a new airframe, avionics and propulsion system, improved
rotor blades, a digital cockpit, and an autopilot among other
modern enhancements.
In his remarks, Colonel William "Billy" Jackson said, "Providing
the Wings of the Eagle is a solemn responsibility. I am proud
to report that this program has delivered many important attributes
to our warfighters including more power, more durability and vastly
increased situational awareness. We have fielded a fully integrated
system…a machine that allows our warfighters to focus on the
battlefield. These attributes improve not only our performance, but
also our combat readiness."
Currently, there are 2,135 H-60 BLACK HAWK helicopters in
service, making the Army's BLACK HAWK helicopter fleet the largest
flying fleet of all the services. The Army fleet of BLACK HAWK
helicopters of all models has flown nearly nine million flight
hours, many of them in combat.
The U.S. Air Force, National Guard, Army Reserve and 10
militaries throughout the world fly H-60M model aircraft. U.S.
Government agencies including the Department of State, Customs
& Border Protection and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
also are operators.
"I know that I speak for all of our employees, many of us
military service veterans, when I describe the tremendous pride we
feel today," said Dan Schultz,
president of Sikorsky, A Lockheed Martin Company. "We are honored
to provide our country's men and women in uniform with a proven
multi-role aircraft they can count on to perform their missions
every day."
The UH-60M BLACK HAWK helicopter has been purchased by several
international militaries, through the U.S. Government Foreign
Military Sales (FMS) program. The U.S. Army has active H-60M BLACK
HAWK programs with Bahrain,
Jordan, Mexico, Saudi
Arabia, Slovakia,
Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia and United
Arab Emirates.
Sikorsky delivered the UH-60A BLACK HAWK helicopters from 1978
until 1989, and delivered the UH-60L from 1989 until 2008. The Army
plans to keep the BLACK HAWK fleet flying through 2070.
For additional information, visit our website:
www.lockheedmartin.com.
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda,
Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace
company that employs approximately 98,000 people worldwide and is
principally engaged in the research, design, development,
manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology
systems, products and services.
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SOURCE Lockheed Martin