‘THE KING IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE KING!’

The Australian Army retired its remaining Sikorsky S-70A-9 Black Hawk helicopters on December 10 in a ceremony at Holsworthy Barracks in Sydney.

Ironically, the retirement came on the day the Government announced that a new batch of about 40 UH-60M Black Hawks will be acquired to replace the Airbus MRH 90, the aircraft that was bought to replace the original Black Hawk.

The Black Hawk was acquired to replace the Bell UH-1H Iroquois in RAAF service, and an order for 14 S-70A-9s was placed in May 1986 through a direct commercial sale with Sikorsky. The Australian version was based on the US Army UH-60A model, but had a different designation as it was not bought through the US Government Foreign Military Sales (FMS) mechanism.

Also in 1986, the RAAF handed its Iroquois, Chinook, and forthcoming Black Hawk helicopters over to the Australian Army, although Black Hawks did service with the RAAF’s 9SQN during the transition until 1989.

An additional 25 Black Hawks were ordered in May 1987, taking the total to 39 airframes. The first Australian Black Hawk flew at Sikorsky’s Stratford, Connecticut plant in September 1987, and was delivered to Australia in February 1988. Production of the remaining 38 aircraft was conducted at Hawker de Havilland at Bankstown Airport, with the final aircraft being delivered in 1991.

The Black Hawk has served operationally with A and B Squadrons of Army’s 5 Aviation Regiment (5Avn) at Townsville, and 171 and 173 Aviation Squadrons of 6 Aviation Regiment at Holsworthy. Aircraft were also seconded to the Army Aviation Test and Evaluation Section (AATES) and the School of Army Aviation at Oakey near Toowoomba, and to the Aircraft Research and Development Unit (ARDU) at Edinburgh in Adelaide.

The MRH 90 replaced the Black Hawks in 5Avn in 2014, and the fleet was drawn down to 18 airframes and concentrated at Holsworthy. In 2019 6Avn began to introduce the MRH 90 in the special operations and counter terrorism support role, with the Black Hawk due to have been phased out by mid-2020. But ongoing difficulties in adapting the MRH 90 to this role saw the Black Hawk’s service extended by 18-months.

Five Black Hawks have been lost in Army service, with the loss of 22 soldiers, the worst incident being a mid-air collision between two machines near Townsville in 1996 which saw the loss of 15 SAS soldiers and three aircrew.

At least five S-70A-9s will be preserved in museums, including the Australian War Memorial, the RAAF Museum at Point Cook, the Museum of Army Flying at Oakey, and the RAAF Aviation Heritage Centre at Amberley. Others may be refurbished for the commercial sector for the fire-fighting or other para-public roles.