The Sikorsky S-70 is an American medium transport/utility helicopter family developed in the 1970s for the United States Army, where it was designated the UH-60 Black Hawk after winning a competitive selection process. Manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft, it has since spawned numerous versions for U.S. military service, along with civilian and other military variants under various S-70 designations. It would become the replacement for the Iroquois in America, and also in Australia.
In the early 1980s the Australian Defence Force needed to upgrade the rotary wings of the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Navy needed to replace the aging Westland Wessex for a modern anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare capable helicopter. Among the contenders for the navy’s requirements was the Westland WS-61 Sea King (a British license-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61), the Sikorsky SH-3D, and the Aérospatiale Super Frelon. The Sea King was equipped with Rolls-Royce Gnome engines and advanced British-made ASW systems, making it a strong candidate for the RAN’s operational needs.
In 1984 the RAAF were also issuing a Request for Tender to find a replacement for the Iroquois helicopters that had served with 9 Squadron. Contenders for the New Utility Helicopter program were the Aérospatiale AS.332B Super Puma, Westand W30-400, Bell JVX tilt-rotor, a variation of the Italian Agusta A129 Mangusta, and the Sikorsky S-70A (or UH-60) Black Hawk.
On 15 July 1985, the Navy finalized a contract for eight S-70B-2 Seahawks, tailored to meet specific operational requirements for anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare roles. The following year the Air Force ordered fourteen S-70A-9 Black Hawks, followed by an additional twenty-five in 1987.
The first US-produced Black Hawk was handed over to the RAAF in 1987, after its first flight at the production plant in Connecticut on September 11 that year. 9 Squadron received the aircraft on the 27th of February 1988. Although the RAAF oversaw the first eight Black Hawks in Australian service, the Chiefs of Staff Committee had already decided, in 1986, that battlefield helicopters would be transferred to the Army. Subsequently, the Black Hawks were transferred to Army’s 5 Aviation Regiment, raised from 9 and 35 squadrons and remained under RAAF command until January 1989
Once 5 Aviation Regiment took command of the Black Hawks and remaining Iroquois, the Air Force’s 9 Squadron was disbanded on the 15th of February 1989. From that time onward, Army’s 5 and 6 Aviation Regiments and the Army Aviation Training Centre, would operate the Black Hawk, Iroquois, Chinook, Kiowa, and subsequent helicopters like the Taipan and the Tiger.
In terms of numbers, Hawker de Havilland Australia produced thirty-eight Black Hawks under license from Sikorsky between 1988 and 1991, for the Australian Army. These aircraft saw operational service in Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, East Timor, Solomon Islands, and Pakistan. Their primary role is providing air mobility for troops and equipment in and out of the battle zone, as well as recon, fire support and evacuation duties.
The Navy fleet of Seahawks reached a total of 16 S-70B-2s and were integral to the Navy’s aviation capabilities, operating from Adelaide-class and Anzac-class frigates. Their advanced avionics suite included a CAE Electronics AN/AQS-504 internally-mounted Magnetic Anomaly Detector system, AN/SSQ-81 Barra sonobuoys, and a MEL Super Searcher X-band radar. These systems enhanced the Navy’s maritime surveillance and combat operations.
Five Black Hawks have been lost in service, and the most significant loss came in 1996. On the evening of June 12, 1996, during a counter-terrorism training exercise at the High Range Training Area near Townsville, Queensland, two Australian Army Black Hawk helicopters collided mid-air. The exercise involved a formation of six helicopters approaching a designated landing zone.
Approximately 30 seconds from the landing zone, one helicopter veered to the right, clipping the tail rotor of another. The lead helicopter crashed upside down, while the second managed a crash landing in an upright position. Tragically both aircraft were consumed by fire, claiming 18 lives: 15 from the Special Air Service Regiment and 3 from the 5th-Aviation-Regiment.
At the end of 2006, a Black Hawk was lost (including a pilot and passenger) in an attempt to land on HMAS Kanimbla during Operation Quickstep near Fiji.
In 2004, the Australian government selected the Multi-Role Helicopter (MRH-90) Taipan, a variant of the NHIndustries NH90, to replace the Black Hawk despite the Department of Defence recommending the S-70M Black Hawk. In April 2009, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston advised against deploying Black Hawks to Afghanistan, citing insufficient armor and self-defense systems. Although upgrades were underway, he argued it was more practical to rely on allied helicopters.
In January 2014, the Army began retiring its fleet of thirty-four Black Hawks, having already lost five in accidents. The plan was initially to complete retirements by June 2018. However, the Chief of Army delayed the retirement of twenty Black Hawks until 2021 to facilitate the development of a special operations role-capable MRH-90. On 10 December 2021, the S-70A-9 Black Hawks were officially retired.
In January 2023, amid ongoing performance issues with the MRH-90s, the Australian Army announced the acquisition of 40 UH-60M Black Hawks under a foreign military sale with the United States worth AU$2.85 billion. Deliveries commenced in 2023, with plans to establish the Black Hawk as Australia’s primary utility helicopter by the decade’s end.
In December 2017, after nearly three decades of service, the Navy’s last Seahawk conducted its final flight before being decommissioned and gifted to the Australian War Memorial. The Seahawks were subsequently replaced by the more advanced MH-60R Seahawk ‘Romeo’ helicopters, which continue to serve as the backbone of the Navy’s naval aviation operations.
There are 23 Romeo Seahawks in service with another 13 on order.
