Philippines Expands Black Hawk Fleet With Lockheed Delivery
The Philippine Air Force has taken delivery of 10 Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters ordered from the Lockheed Martin subsidiary.
The handover follows a $620-million contract inked in 2022 between the Philippine Air Force and Lockheed Martin’s Polish subsidiary, PZL Mielec, to supply 32 Black Hawk choppers.
In June, the defense manufacturer delivered the first half and the other in December 2024, adding to the Philippines’ 15 existing Black Hawk fleet. Meanwhile, the rest are scheduled for delivery over the next couple of years.
Hamid Salim, vice president of Army and Air Force Systems at Sikorsky, noted that the choppers are a “reliable, multi-mission aircraft that is depended on for missions such as search and rescue, humanitarian aid, and troop transport across the archipelago.”
As the Southeast Asian country aims to operate a fleet of 47, it will “have the largest fleet of S-70i Black Hawks in the world, growing the global fleet of Hawks which supports interoperability and commonality and is a key deterrence and security advantage in the Indo-Pacific.”
To ensure dedicated support services, Lockheed established an in-country office in Manila and appointed local company Asian Aerospace as the official original equipment manufacturer authorized reseller of Sikorsky spare parts and repair services for the Black Hawks.