Croatia To Procure $500 Million Worth of UH-60M Black Hawk Helicopters $500 From The US
The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced that the US State Department has approved a Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Croatia for an estimated $500 million for the UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter and related equipment. According to the agency, the necessary certification and related documents announcing the potential sale were submitted to the United States Congress on January 26, December 2024.
This potential sale includes 8 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, 19 T700-GE 701D turboshaft engines (16 installed, 3 spare), 10 AN/AAR-57 Counter Missile Warning Systems (CMWS), 20 H-764U Embedded Global Positioning Systems, 18 M240H machine guns, and numerous other systems such as radar, GPS, and advanced communication systems. Other important components of the package include spare parts, consumables, accessories, logistics and program support.
According to the DSCA, “the proposed sale will improve Croatia’s capability to deter current and future threats and support coalition operations as well as promote interoperability with the United States and other NATO forces. Croatia will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces.” The agency also stated that the proposed sale would not have a negative impact on US defense readiness.
Under the agreement, Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin subsidiary headquartered in Stratford, Connecticut, will serve as the prime contractor. To ensure the successful execution of this potential sale, approximately fifteen US government and contractor officials must be stationed in Croatia for an extended period of time. These individuals’ primary responsibilities will be the processing/delivery of equipment to the field, system control, training, and provision of necessary technical and logistical support.
Croatia had previously procured four UH-60M helicopters from the United States to replace its older Soviet helicopters. Two of these helicopters were donated to Croatia as part of a US military aid program, and the other two were purchased under the “Foreign Military Sales” program. The first two helicopters donated by the US arrived in Croatia in February 2022, while the purchased helicopters arrived in December 2022. With these new helicopters, Croatia has donated all of its decommissioned Mi-8 helicopters to Ukraine.
In addition to the UH-60M helicopter, the Croatian Air Force currently operates 8 Bell 206 Jet Ranger II, 15 OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, and 10 Mi-17 helicopters. If the US Congress does not reject the State Department’s approval of Croatia’s request to purchase 8 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, the Zagreb government will likely donate the remaining 10 Mi-17 helicopters to Ukraine.