Philippines DND Buys 16 Units Of Sikorsky S-70i Black Hawk Helicopters

The Department of National Defense (DND) of the Philippines have signed the contract with Lockheed Martin’s Polish subsidiary PZL Mielec to bring a total of 16 units of Sikorsky’s S-70i Black Hawk combat utility helicopters.


The contract signed is worth US$241.4million (Php12billion) with the Polish combat helicopter manufacturer as the units will be delivered for the Philippine Air Force (PAF).

The deal was signed last March 2019 according to Filipino defense page MaxDefense Philippines and the Notice to Proceed was provided last April 2019. PAF may acquire more in the future to replace its ageing fleet that have received since the 1970’s.

Sikorsky representative told local media that the delivery of the combat utility helicopters will be done by the 3rd quarter of 2020 up to 2021, though the company can adjust the delivery of the first batch to much earlier date.

The S-70i Black Hawk will be made available under the Philippine Air Force’s Combat Utility Helicopter Acquisition Project, the purchased 16 units are required under the AFP Modernization Program.

The S-70i Black Hawk is made In Poland which is an international version of combat utility helicopters, S-70i Black Hawk helicopter is the latest in the family of Black Hawk multi-mission aircraft. The Philippine Air Force Black Hawk will be armed by heavy window mounted machine guns.