Through a series of photographs that quickly went viral on social media, it has become known that the United States has completed the delivery of the first UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter to the Brazilian Army. The aircraft, the first of a total of twelve (12) ordered by the service to renew its transport aviation fleet, was transported to the South American country aboard a U.S. Air Force (USAF) C-17A Globemaster III strategic airlifter.
In order to replace various platforms currently in service which, due to their age, required renewal—such as the Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawk (HM-2) and Airbus AS532 UE Cougar (HM-3) operated by its Army Aviation Command—the Brazilian Army (EB) carried out several studies and negotiations in recent years to finalize their replacement.
This was stated by the Commander of the Brazilian Army himself, General Tomás Miguel Miné Ribeiro Paiva, who summarized the need during a legislative session, explaining that: “…The need to replace both models is based on their obsolescence, compounded by increasingly high operating costs due to difficulties in acquiring spare parts. Currently, four HM-2 helicopters are in service with the 4th Army Aviation Battalion (4º BAvEx) in Manaus, while eight HM-3s are split between the 2nd BAvEx in Taubaté and the 3rd BAvEx in Campo Grande (MS)…”.
Last year, the decision to move forward with the purchase of a new batch of UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters from the United States—after receiving the corresponding authorizations from the U.S. Department of State and congressional approval in 2024—materialized in November with the formal decision to acquire them.
The authorization received in May confirmed that the total investment for the twelve new aircraft amounts to US$ 950 million, under the framework of the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.
With this background, photographs began circulating in recent days showing the transport of the first UH-60M helicopter destined for the Brazilian Army Aviation, which has now arrived in the country. The arrival of this new Black Hawk marks the beginning of Lockheed Martin’s delivery schedule to the service and the start of its formal induction process, while also allowing progress in replacing the aforementioned helicopters that have provided valuable service for years.
Update:
Thanks to a social media post, the Brazilian Army Aviation Command (CAvEx) shared the first official images and videos of the first of its new UH-60M Black Hawks, an aircraft received on November 22 by the 2nd Army Aviation Battalion located in Taubaté.
The service noted that “…technical and logistical acceptance activities are expected to be completed by mid-December. Afterwards, final acceptance by CAvEx will take place, at which point the helicopter will be officially incorporated into the assets of the Brazilian Army.”
They added: “The acquisition is part of the Army Strategic Program – Army Aviation, which boosts the maneuver capability of the Land Force and contributes to its continuous modernization. With the arrival of the new aircraft, four UH-60L Black Hawks and eight HM-3 Cougars—currently in their final service life—will be replaced by the modern UH-60M.”
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