The U.S. delivered the primary two Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk utility helicopters to the Lithuanian Armed Forces after a one-year delay. The Baltic nation’s army introduced the arrival of the brand new helicopters in a submit on its X web page on October 19. The submit included the next statements: “Chicken in a cage: listed here are Lithuania’s first UH-60M helicopters. The primary Black Hawks of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. The primary Black Hawks bearing the Lithuanian flag and the Cross of Vytis.”
The supply, thought-about a big qualitative leap within the modernization of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, is the results of a Letter of Supply and Acceptance (LOA) settlement signed between the governments of Washington and Vilnius on November 13, 2020, to buy 4 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. The settlement, valued at roughly $218 million and partially financed by a $30 million contribution from the US authorities, contains extra tools, spare components, coaching, restore, and logistics help packages along with the helicopters.
The Black Hawks, which have already undergone preliminary check flights by Lithuanian Air Power personnel and handed flight exams with out incident, will quickly be formally deployed on the Šiauliai air base within the northern a part of the nation. The Šiauliai air base, which additionally serves as the first Host Nation Assist (HNS) heart for NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission, underwent a collection of infrastructure enhancements previous to the arrival of the Sikorsky UH-60Ms. Partially funded by NATO, the crucial infrastructure improvement work at this air base included the development of a contemporary hangar for housing the brand new helicopters, conducting upkeep and technical companies, and accommodating administrative workplaces.
Lithuania expects to obtain the remaining two Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk general-purpose helicopters in 2026. Upon completion of the supply, Lithuania will fully fill the hole created by the Soviet Mi-8T helicopters it donated to Ukraine. The Baltic nation’s small however extremely succesful fleet of Black Hawks will probably be used for Search and Rescue (SAR) operations and surveillance missions, alongside Airbus AS365 N3+ Dauphin helicopters. Additionally these UH-60 helicopters may also allow higher interoperability with US and NATO forces, permitting for fast response to a variety of missions and troop deployment with minimal helicopter presence.
