DSEI 2023: Lockheed Martin announces StandardAero as UK manufacturing …

Lockheed Martin promoted its Black Hawk for the UK bid at DSEI 2023. (Lockheed Martin via Janes/Gareth Jennings)

Lockheed Martin has partnered with StandardAero to assemble the Black Hawk helicopter in the UK should it be selected for the New Medium Helicopter (NMH) requirement.

Speaking at the DSEI 2023 defence exhibition in London, the chief executive of Lockheed Martin UK, Paul Livingston, said StandardAero will establish a line for the S-70M Black Hawk helicopter at its Gosport facility in southern England, from where it will assemble parts that have been manufactured by PZL Mielec in Poland.

“Our proposal to assemble the Black Hawk in Gosport will bring more value to the UK than either of the other two [proposals from Airbus Helicopters and Leonardo Helicopters],” Livingston said on 12 September. “It will support up to 600 highly skilled jobs, with export opportunities over and above New Medium Helicopter, and it will also strengthen industrial collaboration between the UK and Poland – two key strategic partners. With 5,000 Black Hawks sold globally, it will sustain a 45-year pipeline for jobs, and will provide a route into Sikorsky's [Future Vertical Lift] FVL technologies.”

The UK's NMH requirement covers the replacement of the Airbus SA 330E Puma HC2 and three other UK military rotorcraft types with 36–44 new medium-lift helicopters, and sees the S-70M Black Hawk going up against the Airbus H175M and Leonardo AW149. The procurement plan is now sat with the parliamentary assessment committee and needs to be signed off before it goes to the Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) phase, ahead of a type selection being made.