On September 6, the Air Force signed the contract for the acquisition of three more Sikorski UH-60 Black Hawk medium bomber helicopters, acquired from the company Ace Aeronautics, LLC., through the public tender authorized by Council of Ministers Resolution No. 27/2021, of March 4.
Financed by around 81% by community funds, through the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), the delivery of the first two helicopters is scheduled for 2025 and the third for 2026.
According to the Air Force, these three helicopters will integrate «the State's own capacity to combat rural fires, joining the six previously acquired, two of which have already been delivered to the Air Force, thus increasing the fleet to nine».
The contract now signed also includes training for six pilots and 18 mechanics.
The UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, designed for aerial combat of rural fires and transporting forces to the ground, can transport a team of 12 fully equipped firefighters and has the capacity to carry up to 2950 liters of water per drop.
With a flight autonomy of 2h30, it is a medium twin-engine utility helicopter, with a range of 555 kilometers and a maximum speed of 314 km/h.
«Since this is a mission that requires extreme experience, until 2026 the Air Force crews responsible for operating the UH-60 Black Hawk will undergo a very rigorous training phase in order to build their capacity with all safety conditions».
In 2018, the Portuguese Government transferred the State's own resources for the mission of fighting rural fires to the Air Force.
In this regard, acquisition contracts were signed for two AW119 Koalas, intended for surveillance and projection of forces on the ground, and six UH-60 Black Hawks.
At the end of 2023, two AW119 Koalas and the first two UH-60 Black Hawks were delivered to the Air Force, the latter delivered to Squadron 551 – “Panteras”, based at Air Base No. 8, in Ovar, with the remaining four expected to be delivered by 2025.
Thus, with this new contract now signed, the number of helicopters to be operated by the Air Force increases to 11, namely two AW119 Koala and nine UH-60 Black Hawk.
These are joined by two DHC-515 Firefighter heavy bomber aircraft, known as Canadair, acquired in July this year with EU funds from the RescEU programme, to which national funds are added, with the first aircraft expected to be delivered in 2029 and the second in 2030.
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