29 June 2014. Sikorsky wins the project from United States Air Force for new combat search and rescue (SAR) helicopter. Sikorsky grasps about US$ 7.9 billion project, breaking down into several phase, the first step is US$ 1.28 billion.
In order to replace old Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawks, US Air Force will acquire hundreds of new SAR helicopter. The new fleet is expected to be delivered in 2020.
USAF Rescue Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawks
The agreement states that the deal including development and manufacturing for four prototypes and engineering budget as well. However, US Department of Defense tends to called this chopper with Combat Rescue Helicopters or CRH.
US Air Force also wants another one prototype for training's crew and staff. The delivery will be completed in 2029 they added. In other hand, the development of CRH will take UH-60 Black Hawk as a based platform. Tweaking fuel capacity to increase range and adding some mission systems by Lockheed Martin.
US Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk
Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a utility helicopter that equipped with twin engine and four-bladed-rotor. The Black Hawk was chose by US Army for Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System in 1972. The Sikorsky UH-60 began to serve US Army in 1979 until now and modified variant by US Air Force, US Navy and US Coast Guard.