The Swedish Armed Forces confirm the purchase of 12 new UH-60M Black Hawks from the United States.

This week, The Swedish Defense Material Administration (FMV) has confirmed the purchase of twelve new UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters from the United States, which was already approved by the State Department at the end of May.. This is also called buying new units Helicopter 16 arrived by the Swedish Armed Forces to complement the existing fifteen Black Hawk helicopters.

The investment required to carry out this acquisition is 900 million dollars, including a wide range of spare parts for UH-60M helicopters, T700-GE-701D engines, AN/ APR-39C and AN/. AAR-57 missile firing warning systems, other issues. This is a purchase made within the framework of Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and it establishes a delivery time without much detail, “several years” being the term used by the official FMV report.

FMV director Michael Stolban said:The acquisition of more helicopters strengthens the defense capabilities of Sweden as an ally, according to ÖB’s military advice to the government and, according to the Defense Council’s report..”

It should be noted that the purchase of these new UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters marks a new break between the NHIndustries consortium and the Swedish Ministry of Defense, while there are intentions not to proceed with the acquisition of the troubled NH from 2022. -90; Sweden has both the HKP-14E variant designed for troop transport and the HKP-14F variant for anti-submarine warfare. Many countries have moved along these lines, such as Norway and Australia, which have opted for the Sikorsky helicopter as an alternative to the aforementioned European-made helicopters.

The replacement for the NH-90, now confirmed, also has a proven track record in various international deployments undertaken by the Swedish Armed Forces since the acquisition of fifteen units in 2011. Importantly, it should be noted that the UH-60M Black Hawks. After the Taliban came to power until their retirement in 2021, they participated in counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan.

*Image credit: FMV

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