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05 września 2017

I see strong opportunities opening up for Black Hawk in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Lithuania among others, if Poland elects to buy PZL Mielec-built Black Hawk helicopters – Joel E. Villa Regional Director, Central and East Europe Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation.Picture: Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation

Central and Eastern European Western-oriented countries military machineries started to look for the opportunity to replace their fleets of old rotorcraft air transport workhorses Mil Mi-8, Mi-17 and Mi-24 into something new. How are you going to persuade them to obtain Black Hawks and customize these helos to the role of the new transport workhorses?

Designed and manufactured to U.S. Army specifications, the multi-role Black Hawk helicopter is NATO’s preferred combat assault and utility helicopter and currently in service with, or selected by, the U.S. military and 30 international customers.

The Black Hawk concept sees supportability and ease of maintenance, even when operating in the harshest of operational environments, built in. The aircraft has a proven track record for reliability, capability and versatility. The U.S. Army fleet alone has accumulated two million combat flight hours since 2002 in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Black Hawk’s flexibility means it can quickly be reconfigured for a variety of missions, even when on dispersed operations. It already operates as a troop transport, combat assault, MEDEVAC, humanitarian relief, search and rescue and cargo lift helicopter and as an armed platform for close air support of ground troops during combat missions.

The U.S military and 30 international customers will tell you, Black Hawk’s qualities today are already difficult to match. We are constantly looking at product enhancements to sustain this position for the long term and ensure Black remains a platform of choice for decades to come.

How many these countries are you going to attract by the Black Hawks assembled by a Lockheed Martin plant in Mielec?

A number of neighbouring countries are watching Poland’s helicopter procurement process with interest and I believe any contract for PZL Mielec built Black Hawks from Poland will act as a catalyst for export orders from across the region. We already see strong interest in procuring a similar capability from neighbouring countries including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Lithuania among others. We are also aggressively pursuing Black Hawk sales in a number of other countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and throughout Asia and the Middle East.

For customers and potential customers we are able to offer a choice of UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters available via the U.S. Army as a government-to-government sale or the same aircraft, designated S-70i, delivered available directly from our PZL Mielec manufacturing plant in Poland.

Do you think that the experiences gained by Central and Eastern European soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan during the cooperation with US forces equipped with different versions of Black Hawks would be your advantage?

We know from feedback received directly from those who fly Black Hawk as aircrew and those who fly in it as combat troops, travelling to or returning from military operations, that Black Hawk has an extremely positive reputation for being a strong, rugged and highly dependable platform. We hear similarly positive comments from its involvement in humanitarian, MEDEVAC and other highly specialist roles.

Such solid customer advocacy would help position any helicopter for success but it needs to be available at the right price, in the right timeframe and be supported by a training, logistics and support package that will ensure availability on the flight line wherever that is, whenever it is needed and whatever the operational task happens to be. Black Hawk addresses each of these areas strongly.

The slogan: Black Hawks with global combat experience made in Poland for European countries – would be good, but what about different countries different demands? How are you goind to unify these countries so diverse requirements for helos? Poland for instance would need very different helicopters from versatile transport workhorses to the Combat SAR and naval antisubmarine?

Black Hawk is a highly flexible and versatile helicopter and is suitable for a variety of missions, including troop transport, combat assault, MEDEVAC, humanitarian relief, search and rescue, cargo lift, and as an armed helicopter for close air support of ground troops.

For anti-submarine warfare operations, the MH-60R Seahawk variant of the Black Hawk helicopter is the world’s most capable and advanced maritime helicopter, designed to operate from frigates, destroyers, cruisers and aircraft carriers

What about if only two or three countries will bet for Black Hawks?

We are committed to sustaining Black Hawk production at PZL Mielec, and to long-term industrial cooperation with PGZ-Member companies. Lockheed Martin is also investigating how it can bring more work to PZL Mielec and Poland as part of our corporate strategy to grow in the international marketplace.

Of course, if Poland selects Black Hawk helicopters, built in Poland, for Poland, it will send an important signal of confidence from the Polish government and add further strength to the position of PZL Mielec. It will also strengthen the country’s engineering and manufacturing sector, sustaining 1,700 jobs at PZL Mielec and a further 5,000 in the national supply chain as well as boosting Poland’s national economy.

I see strong opportunities opening up for Black Hawk in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Lithuania among others, if Poland elects to buy PZL Mielec-built Black Hawk helicopters. We have already had senior customer representatives from many neighbouring countries visit our Mielec facility. They are watching developments in Poland with interest.

Are you going to expand the international business with Skytrucks planes from Mielec? That was the sole aircraft made in Poland which served with US Special Operations Command but was now phased out of US service…

This is not my area of the business but I can say that Lockheed Martin’s commitment to PZL Mielec includes working to identify potential new markets for the M-28 twin turboprop. Earlier this summer the M-28 completed a tour of Latin America and The Caribbean which generated a high level of interest from military and commercial aircraft operators. I expect you will here more in the months ahead.


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