Army Lithuania to sign contract for Black Hawk helicopters this week

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Lithuania is planning to buy four Black Hawk military helicopters under a contract to be signed with the United States this week, the Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.

Lithuania will pay the US government 181 million euros (213 million US dollars) for the platform over the next five years. The US government is providing 30 million dollars (around 26 million euros) in financial support for the project.

The first shipment of the Black Hawks could be delivered to Lithuania in late 2024.

Lithuania unveiled plans to purchase Black Hawks a year ago. The country initially planned to buy six helicopters, but opted for four in the course of the negotiations. It will be able to acquire two more helicopters in the future.

"The Lithuanian Armed Forces will buy four UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters with additional equipment, spares, and a training, repair and logistical support package," Lithuania’s Defence Ministry said in a press release.

The new platform will replace the ageing Soviet-made Mi-8T helicopters. Their exploitation period has expired and the fleet is “prone to failures” and involves a “complicated provision of spares from Russia," according to the ministry.

Defence Minister Raimundas Karoblis called the acquisition "one of the most critical elements in the modernisation and enhancement of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, and a significant qualitative leap in supplying the military with contemporary and capable weaponry".

"By dropping the last Soviet relic and progressing to a Western helicopter platform we are beginning a completely new phase for the Lithuanian Air Force and moving in step with US and other most advanced NATO militaries," he said.

Lithuania's Chief of Defence Lieutenant General Valdemaras Rupšys said the new helicopters will allow the Lithuanian Armed Forces "to carry out a significantly more effective military training, render air support to the infantry, airlift small units, medical evacuation, and other tasks".

"We will also be able to complete domestic support tasks, such as search and rescue, emergency transportation of organs, firefighting, more effectively," he said.



The new platform is also expected to significantly improve interaction with strategic and regional partners, the ministry said, noting that the armed forces of 30 countries worldwide, including Poland and Latvia, have acquired the same platform.

This "will expand the opportunities to train and carry out operations together in more numerous groups of personnel, alongside partners that also operate Black Hawks," it said.

"Fast, maneuverable and efficient UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters will also enable the Lithuanian Armed Forces to respond to aid requests significantly more quickly and to assist with search and rescue tasks," according to the press release.

The Defence Ministry gave no details as to where and when exactly the contract will be signed. The talks on the Black Hawks took place at a high political level.

Lithuania to sign contract for Black Hawk helicopters this week

Lithuania is planning to buy four Black Hawk military helicopters under a contract to be signed with the United States t...

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