S-70i Black Hawk - over a hundred sold

The first recipient of the S-70i Black Hawk produced in Mielec was the Ministry of the Interior of Saudi Arabia, which ordered at least three copies of these rotorcraft.

The contract signed on February 22 between the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of the Philippines and Polskie Zakłady Lotniczy Sp. z oo from Mielec, owned by Lockheed Martin Corporation, regarding the order of the second batch of multi-purpose S-70i Black Hawk helicopters is historical, including for two reasons. Firstly, this is the largest single order for this machine, and secondly, it determines the exceeding of the limit of one hundred sold machines of this type, manufactured in Mielec.

When the then Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation bought through United Technologies Holdings SA in 2007 from Agencja Rozwoju Przemysłu a 100% stake in Polskie Zakłady Lotnicze Sp. z oo in Mielec, hardly anyone expected that the potential of the largest aircraft manufacturer in Poland would expand in recent years. Despite the widespread pessimism of aviation market analysts, the situation was different - in addition to continuing the production of M28 Skytruck / Bryza light transport aircraft and the manufacture of fuselage structures for multi-purpose Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, the new owner decided to locate the final assembly line of the novelty in Mielec Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. – multi-purpose helicopter S-70i Black Hawk. The commercial version of the popular military rotorcraft was to respond to an expected market demand, where a large group of potential customers were identified not interested in acquiring used older versions of the UH-60 from surplus US Department of Defense equipment through Excess. Defense Articles (EDA) program or currently produced under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. This, in turn, meant that the manufacturer “only” needed to obtain an export license from the US administration in order to sell helicopters directly (direct commercial sales, DCS) to institutional, including civilian, customers. To do this, the on-board equipment, as well as other structural elements (including the drive), had to meet strict administrative requirements (i.e. be depleted compared to the currently produced military version)). Initial estimates indicated that the manufacturer expected to sell more than 300 copies. To date, over the ten years of the program implementation, 30% of the proposed portfolio has been purchased. By the end of 2021, Polskie Zakłady Lotnicze has produced 90 S-70i helicopters. Relatively low rates were due to low - initially - sales dynamics, much lower than expected, but the time was used to develop competencies in the helicopter segment. Initially, Mielec rotorcraft were built as standard and transported to the USA for installation of additional equipment in accordance with user requirements. However, since 2016, most of this work has already been carried out in Mielec, which is worth emphasizing - with the growing participation of Polish partners.

A good streak of Mielec S-70i began with a contract with Chile, which included six copies. It is important to note that in the case of these rotorcraft, the process of assembling the target equipment was carried out for the first time in Poland.

The first, while modest, orders were announced in the second half of 2010, when the first serial Mielec was being assembled. Three cars were ordered by the Ministry of the Interior of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Although the contract also included an option to extend the contract for another 12 helicopters, there is no confirmation yet that the Riyadh authorities would benefit from this. Vehicles delivered in 2010-2011 are used to support law enforcement and search and rescue operations. In addition, the second marketing success was rather symbolic when one helicopter was sold to Mexican law enforcement. Only in 2011 were the first contracts for the supply of equipment for the armed forces received - Brunei ordered 12, and Colombia ordered five (later two more). The second order was especially important, as Columbia already had experience operating UH-60 Black Hawks delivered through the US administration since 1987. What should be emphasized, according to available sources, it was the Colombian S-70i that went through the baptism, participating in the fight against drug cartels and Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - Ejército del Pueblo (FARC-EP) militants.

For the S-70 program, both successes in the military market were supposed to be the proverbial wind in the sails, but in the end they turned out to be the last before a long market drought - by 2015, no new orders had been won, and, in addition, Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in November 2015 became the property of Lockheed Martin Corporation. Unfortunately, it was not possible to include the factories in Mielec as sub-suppliers for the licensed production of the S-70i in Turkey. Turkey's success in selecting the S-2014i in '70 as the platform for the new T-70 helicopter under the Turkish General Helicopter Program (TUHP) was not realized due to the very slow progress of the entire enterprise. This is due to the cooling of diplomatic relations on the Washington-Ankara line and may lead to additional delays in the project, which is considered as a separate S-70i line.

The change of ownership of the Mielec plants has led to an adjustment of the marketing strategy, which in turn has led to a series of successes that continue - only the orders of recent months have led to the conclusion of sales contracts. in the amount of 42 copies. In addition to the military market, where 67 helicopters have been contracted in recent years (for Chile, Poland, Thailand and the Philippines), the civilian market has become an important activity, with a particular focus on emergency services - in the past six years, Mielec has sold more 21 Black Hawk. It is important to note that in addition to the specific US market, where helicopters are increasingly used for firefighting operations, other countries will soon take advantage of the C-70i in this market segment. This is because many private fire service providers move their vehicles between fire zones (due to different terms for "fire seasons", the same aircraft equipment can be used in Greece, the US and Australia). An important achievement is the establishment of a fruitful cooperation between the helicopter manufacturer and United Rotorcraft, which specializes in the conversion of helicopters for rescue and firefighting missions. The contract currently underway is for five helicopters and includes, among other things, a copy that will be sent to Colorado's emergency services, as well as a Firehawk for an unknown operator outside the United States.