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PZL Mielec delivers first Sikorsky S-70 Black Hawk helicopters to Romania
November 24, 2023 By Helicopters Staff
Photo Credit: PZL Mielec PZL Mielec, a Lockheed Martin company, delivered the first four new-generation, European manufactured S-70M Black Hawk utility helicopters to Romania’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, with two more aircraft on schedule to arrive by the end of 2023.
Purchased as part of the European Union’s VISION 2020 project, the intended missions for the helicopters include maritime and land search-and-rescue, firefighting, transport, and medical emergency support in Romania.
An additional Black Hawk, procured within the European HeliPol project, is scheduled for delivery before the end of the year and is allocated for the Romanian Police, increasing its operational capacity.
The helicopters are part of a framework agreement that will see up to 12 Polish-built S-70M Black Hawks supplied to Romania over the next four years.
“The Black Hawk helicopters delivered to Romania will provide increased readiness when responding to emergency situations,” Janusz Zakręcki, PZL Mielec president and general director, said in a Nov. 23 news release. “The S-70 Black Hawk helicopter, designed to demanding military standards, is a dual-purpose platform that is ideal for demanding long-range and high-altitude missions ranging from disaster relief, search and rescue, medical transport, external cargo transport, firefighting and maritime patrol.”
According to PZL Mielec officials, the cabin of both the land and maritime variant Black Hawks will accommodate a medical suite designed and provided by DELTAMED, a Cluj-Napoca-based integrator of emergency vehicles outfitted for patient care and rescue.
Also, the multi-role S-70 Black Hawk features digital avionics, GE engines, high-strength airframe structures and composite wide chord rotor blades that yield increased situational awareness, survivability, and performance.
Romania has now become the 11th country and 18th customer for Black Hawk helicopters built by PZL Mielec, said to be Poland’s largest exporter of aerospace equipment.
