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4w ago

Army Awards Sikorsky $43 Million to Build Black Hawk Digital Backbone for Drone Integration

Key production plus re‑engining decisions remain unsettled after recent cost-cutting.

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An artist rendition of a modernized UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter employing Air Launched Effects (ALE). (Image credit: Sikorsky)
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Overview

  • The initial award funds engineering work on UH-60M airframes, a model-based digital backbone, and main fuel system upgrades.
  • Sikorsky will use MBSE and a Modular Open Systems Approach to enable rapid integration of unmanned 'launched effects' and other future capabilities.
  • The company and the Army are targeting a federated launched-effects capability on Black Hawks in 2026, building on prior tube-launched UAS trials.
  • The contract establishes technical groundwork rather than fleetwide retrofits or production, with timelines and costs for later phases still to be defined.
  • Plans to re-engine with GE’s T901 remain uncertain following Army cost-cutting, with potential congressional action described as possible but not settled.