The State Department approved a possible $495 million Foreign Military Sale (FMS) request to Saudi Arabia for nine UH-60M Black Hawk Utility Helicopters and associated equipment, parts, and logistical support.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress of the potential sale on Oct. 13.
Photo: Sikorsky
The requested FMS would include major defense equipment (MDE) of nine UH-60M Black Hawk Utility Helicopters, 21 T700-GE-701D Engines (18 installed and three spares), 20 Embedded Global Positioning Systems with Inertial Navigation System (GPS/INS) (18 installed and two spares), 12 AN/AAR-57, Common Missile Warning Systems (CMWS) (nine installed and three spares), and 20 M240H 7.62mm Machine Guns.
The sale would also include non-MDE items such as Aircraft Survivability Equipment; M134 Miniguns; Electro-optical Infrared (EO/IR) system; Dual Mode (normal light/infrared) Controllable Search Lights; Fast Rope Insertion/ Extraction System (FRIES); External Electric Hoists; Internal Auxiliary Fuel Tank Systems (IAFS); Dual Patient Litter System; Ballistic Armor Protection System; aircraft warranty; air worthiness support; spare and repair parts; communications equipment; personnel training and training equipment; site surveys; tool and test equipment; ground support equipment; repair and return; publications and technical documentation; Quality Assurance Team (QAT); U.S. government and contractor engineering, technical and logistics support services; and other related elements of logistics and program support.
The primary contractors would be Sikorsky [UTX] and General Electric [GE].
Saudi Arabia would use this equipment through the Royal Saudi Land Forces Aviation Command (RSLFAC) for search and rescue, disaster relief, humanitarian support, counterterrorism, and combat operation, DSCA said in a statement.
Implementation of the FMS would require about 40-60 U.S. government and contractor representatives to travel to Saudi Arabia for up to 60 months for equipment de-processing, fielding, system checkout, training, and technical logistics support.