More on the offer by Sikorsky of their Armed S-70i Black Hawk Helicopter that was initially reported by the Business Mirror news organization more than a week ago.
Sikorsky confirmed the offer will be for the Philippine Air Force’s (PAF) Attack Helicopter program, so it will be competing with the AH-1Z Viper and the AH-64E Apache Guardian.
The report from Flight Global also seems to indicate that the minimum number of aircraft for the PAF’s Attack Helicopter program is six aircraft.
The advantage of this offer seems to be that first, it can meet the budget of around Usd 255 million for 6 aircraft. Second, the aircraft will likely be bought from Sikorsky’s manufacturing plant in Poland, where our purchase of 16 S-70i aircraft for the Combat Utility Helicopter (CUH) program went thru smoothly.
Third, arming the aircraft could be done by the Advanced Military Maintenance Repair and Overhaul Center (AMMROC) which is based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
So involvement with the side of the United States (US) Government will be minimal or less than compared to the offer of Viper or Apache Guardian which went thru their Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program of the US.
Economically and politically, this seems better for us, but the big question mark is the aircraft itself, it still will have some disadvantages compared to a dedicated Attack Helicopter.
For example, will Sikorsky’s offer come with a Cannon Turret similar to the 20 mm Gun on the Viper or the 30 mm Gun on the Apache Guardian?
Even if so, the Viper can hold 750 rounds of 20 mm ammo while the Apache Guardian can carry 1,200 rounds of 30 mm ammo, can the Armed S-70i come near these numbers in terms of ammo it can carry?
If it can, then it might be worth considering, but if not then that could be an issue.
SOURCE: Sikorsky to pitch Armed Black Hawk to Philippines
Check out my Links: https://linktr.ee/rhk111
Sikorsky confirmed the offer will be for the Philippine Air Force’s (PAF) Attack Helicopter program, so it will be competing with the AH-1Z Viper and the AH-64E Apache Guardian.
The report from Flight Global also seems to indicate that the minimum number of aircraft for the PAF’s Attack Helicopter program is six aircraft.
The advantage of this offer seems to be that first, it can meet the budget of around Usd 255 million for 6 aircraft. Second, the aircraft will likely be bought from Sikorsky’s manufacturing plant in Poland, where our purchase of 16 S-70i aircraft for the Combat Utility Helicopter (CUH) program went thru smoothly.
Third, arming the aircraft could be done by the Advanced Military Maintenance Repair and Overhaul Center (AMMROC) which is based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
So involvement with the side of the United States (US) Government will be minimal or less than compared to the offer of Viper or Apache Guardian which went thru their Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program of the US.
Economically and politically, this seems better for us, but the big question mark is the aircraft itself, it still will have some disadvantages compared to a dedicated Attack Helicopter.
For example, will Sikorsky’s offer come with a Cannon Turret similar to the 20 mm Gun on the Viper or the 30 mm Gun on the Apache Guardian?
Even if so, the Viper can hold 750 rounds of 20 mm ammo while the Apache Guardian can carry 1,200 rounds of 30 mm ammo, can the Armed S-70i come near these numbers in terms of ammo it can carry?
If it can, then it might be worth considering, but if not then that could be an issue.
SOURCE: Sikorsky to pitch Armed Black Hawk to Philippines
Check out my Links: https://linktr.ee/rhk111
