According to a tender published in December by the Portuguese Air Force, the institution is seeking to expand its fleet of Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters with the potential purchase of four new units, which would arrive modernized and specially configured for medical evacuation and transport tasks in emergency situations. As gathered in the official document published by Lisbon, potential bidders will have until early next week to present their proposals, regarding a deal for which the country would be willing to pay about 32 million euros.
If the acquisition in question is carried out, the Portuguese Air Force would be able to complement its already ordered fleet of nine helicopters belonging to the Black Hawk family, for whose acquisition it benefited from support funds allocated from the European Union (EU) Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). Specifically, we are talking about a first batch of six modernized UH-60A variants purchased from the company United Aero Group in 2022, as well as another three also remanufactured UH-60L helicopters that were ordered from Ace Aeronautics during 2024.
Of this last group of three units, it should be remembered that the institution already received the first helicopter in October of last year, which arrived at Air Base No. 8 located in Ovar; from there, it operates under the orbit of Squadron 551, known as the “Panthers.” Being a remanufactured “Lima” variant helicopter, it arrived equipped with new engines and a new gearbox to increase the platform’s service life, in addition to the capacity to carry up to 680 kilograms of extra payload in relation to previous variants; a value that becomes 450 kilograms in the case of suspended cargo. They also incorporate new weather radars with greater effectiveness in adverse weather conditions, while for search and rescue tasks, they also add an external winch system.
Following that line, it must be remembered that these were acquired especially for firefighting tasks, so part of their main capabilities lies in the fact of having space to carry up to 2,950 liters of water and an effective deployment system in rural environments. Added to this, they have the capacity to transport up to 12 people, which represents greater facilities when mobilizing rescue teams in emergency situations.
Finally, it is useful to highlight that these acquisitions of new helicopters aim to resolve an existing capacity gap in the Portuguese Air Force following the sending of its Russian-origin Kamov Ka-32 helicopters to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, this being part of a military assistance package; considering they had been committed for that purpose in 2022. As we reported in September 2024, Lisbon finalized the delivery of six units, with one of them sent in non-flightworthy condition due to having suffered a serious accident.
*Images used for illustrative purposes.
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