Romania Adds Next-Gen Black Hawk to Fleet

A Black Hawk helicopter, intended for Romania’s emergency medical airlift missions, arrived at Aurel Vlaicu International Airport on November 11, 2023. [Courtesy: Lockheed Martin]

Romania is expanding its fleet of S-70 Black Hawk helicopters, Lockheed Martin announced this week.

PZL Mielec, a Lockheed Martin subsidiary in Poland, has picked up a contract to deliver a next-generation Black Hawk utility helicopter to be used for emergency services. The contract was awarded by Romania’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, Department of Emergency Situations on Tuesday.

Earlier this year, Lockheed Martin and Aerostar S.A. inaugurated the first certified S-70 Black Hawk helicopter maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) service center in Europe.

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According to Lockheed Martin, the aircraft will join Romania's existing fleet of European Sikorsky S-70M Black Hawks that are used for maritime and land search and rescue, firefighting, transport, and medical emergency support.

In 2023, Romania received seven S-70Ms as part of a framework agreement for up to 12 Polish-built S-70M Black Hawks. This additional aircraft increased the fleet to eight.

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Janusz Zakrecki, President of PZL Mielec, and Cătălin Paul Dache, General Inspector of the General Aviation Inspectorate, sign the contract for Romania to procure an additional Polish-built S-70M Black Hawk. [Courtesy Lockheed Martin]

“This Polish-built S-70M Black Hawk will further extend the reach of the existing Romanian Black Hawk fleet and supports Romania in its commitment to contribute to strengthening European preparedness for disasters,” said Dennis Goege, vice president of Lockheed Martin in Central and Eastern Europe. “These new-generation aircraft will be a long-standing asset for Romania, offering enhanced features and flight safety to its high-payload role, as demonstrated worldwide, but especially by firefighting forces in the United States.”

According to Lockheed Martin, it has produced more than 5,000 Black Hawks that are operating in 35 countries.

Meg GodlewskiAuthor

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.