Indonesia signs contract for 24 new S-70M Black Hawk helicopters

 

Sikorsky S-70M Black Hawk helicopters. Photo c/o Lockheed Martin.

The Indonesian Ministry of Defence (MOD) signed a contract with Indonesian aerospace company PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) for the procurement of up to 24 new Sikorsky S-70M Black Hawk multirole helicopters.

PTDI’s Director of Commerce, Technology & Development Mr. Mohammad Arif Faisal, and the Indonesian Ministry of Defence’s Head of Defence Equipment Center Marshal Yusran Lubis represented their agencies during the contract signing event held on 01 December 2023 at the Indonesian Ministry of Defence in Jakarta, Indonesia.

PTDI has a cooperation agreement with Sikorsky’s mother company Lockheed Martin, with PTDI to be directly involved in dealing with the American defense giant with regards to the Indonesian S-70M Black Hawk procurement.

As part of PTDI’s agreement with Lockheed Martin, the Indonesian company will also be the recipient of Technology Transfer and designated PTDI as a Completion Center for S-70 helicopters.

This will allow them to assemble and upgrade the helicopters including fitting the basic S-70M helicopter with the equipment as required by the requirement of the Indonesian MOD.

The Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) currently uses a wide variety of helicopters for multiple roles including utility and transport, air assault, search and rescue, special operations, and fire support. 

The Indonesian Army (TNI-AD) is expected to receive the new S-70M Black Hawks, and will complement existing utility and transport helicopters in its fleet which comprises mostly of different Bell 412 variants, the Mil Mi-17V-5 from Russia, and other smaller helicopters including the MBB BO-105CB, Bell 205A-1, and Airbus Fennec helicopters.  

[1] Indoensian Ministry of Defence

[2] BNN Network