Article Posted on : - Aug 08, 2011

MIELEC, POLAND (BNS): US helicopter producer Sikorsky has delivered the first S-70i Black Hawk helicopters to an international customer.

The first three of six S-70is, which were assembled and flight tested at PZL Mielec, a Sikorsky production facility in Poland, were handed over to an undisclosed customer.

The multi-mission choppers departed Poland’s Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport inside an Antonov An-124 Ruslan cargo aircraft following a week of flight acceptance activities in the skies over Poland, the company said.

Sikorsky had acquired Poland’s leading aerospace company PZL Mielec in 2007 to manufacture S-70i Black Hawk – the export variant of the Black Hawk family of helicopters.

“PZL Mielec has proven it can build and flight test a new variant of the Black Hawk helicopter to the very highest standards,” said Robert Mastronardi, S-70i senior programme manager, Sikorsky Military Systems.

The S-70i has been designed to carry out multiple missions including troop support, humanitarian relief, VIP transport, search and rescue, medical evacuation, and armed patrol.

The aircraft is powered by two T700-GE701D engines and features wide chord rotor blades, modern digital avionics that includes a fully integrated digital cockpit, a dual digital automatic flight control system and coupled flight director, an active vibration control system, and a dual GPS/INS system with digital map.

The S-70i utilises a global supply chain and is the first Black Hawk helicopter ever to be assembled in Europe.

Sikorsky said it plans to expand the production of the helicopters at the Polish facility to 10 in 2012 and to 22 in 2013.