Romania’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, Department of Emergency Situations, has awarded PZL Mielec, a Lockheed Martin company, a contract to procure an additional new-generation Black Hawk utility helicopter for emergency and firefighting services.
This additional aircraft will join Romania’s fleet of European manufactured Sikorsky S-70M Black Hawk utility helicopters, currently providing maritime and land search and rescue, firefighting, transport and medical emergency support.
In 2023, Romania received seven S-70M helicopters as part of a framework agreement for up to twelve Polish-built S-70M Black Hawks. With this additional aircraft, the fleet of S-70M helicopters will grow to eight.
Designed to demanding military standards, the S-70 Black Hawk helicopter is a dual-use platform that is ideally-suited to perform the long-range and high-altitude missions like disaster relief, search and rescue, medical transport, external cargo lift, firefighting.
Earlier this year, Lockheed Martin, and Aerostar inaugurated the first certified S-70 Black Hawk helicopter maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) service centre in Europe, established in Bacau.
Romania made this purchase funded by European Union RescEU funds, part of the European Civil protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations created to fund, among other items, a fleet of firefighting planes and helicopters.
