Army lieutenant generals told the Senate Armed Services Airland Subcommittee on 2 April that the U.S. Army will divest its remaining UH-60A or Alpha-model aircraft by 2024.
In response to a question by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Lt. Gen. Paul Ostrowski, principal military deputy to the Army assistant secretary and director of the Army Acquisitions Corps , said that U.S. Army plans to get rid of all its UH-60 A-model Black Hawks from the National Guard by fiscal year 2022 and the active duty force by 2024.
During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Lt. Gen. Paul Ostrowski also added that by 2024, all the Alpha-model aircraft will be out of the active-duty forces as well.
The first UH-60A was accepted by the Army in 1978, and entered service in 1979 when it was delivered to aviation components of the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions.
The Alpha-model of Black Hawk has been the Army’s front line utility helicopter for the past 40 years.
Since that time, the Black Hawk has accumulated more than 9 million total fleet hours and has supported Soldiers in every major contingency operation the Army has executed, including Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Somalia, the Balkans, Afghanistan, and throughout the Middle East.
Today, the UH-60 Black Hawk makes up the Army’s largest rotary wing fleet with more than 2,100 airframes in the current inventory. As production of the most current H-60M model continues, over the coming years the Army will divest its remaining UH-60A and L aircraft, to be replaced by 760 UH-60Vs.
“Going forward, the intent is also to convert all of the Lima aircraft to Victor models as well,” Ostrowski said. “Between Mikes and Victors, in the 2030s we will have transitioned both the active-duty as well as the National Guard to either Victor or Mike models within our Army.”