With the introduction of the S-70B helicopter, the RAN applied to the RAAF for an alphanumeric prefix, and in March 1985, the RAAF assigned the allocation A24. The RAN applied N24 as the serial prefix to these aircraft. In November 1985, the NUH was allocated the A25 identification prefix. The Black Hawk, having first flown on October 17 1974, had already been selected by the US Army as a "Huey" replacement in 1976. This, together with its Seahawk commonality, and a superior hot-and-high performance, led to the Black Hawk selection. An initial order was placed for 14 aircraft on May 29 1986.

During 1986, after much vigorous debate, the decision was made to pass control of the battlefield helicopters from the RAAF to the Army. The RAAF was to see the Black Hawk into service and the 14 aircraft would then transfer to the Army.

The first Australian Black Hawk, designated S-70A-9 and serialled A25-101 (Sirkosky c/n 701067) flew at the Statford, Connecticut plant on September 11 1987. After being handed over to the RAAF on December 31, it was flown to RAAF Amberley by C-130 and delivered to 9SQN on February 27 1988. By this stage, some 900 Black Hawks had been delivered to the US Army. Meanwhile, licensed assembly in Australia had started in April 1987 with Hawker De Havilland (HdH) at Bankstown as prime contractor. The remaining 13 aircraft of this Batch One order to be assembled at HdH were serialled A25-102 to A25-114 (c/n between 701089 and 701240).

The first of these, A25-102 was handed over at Bankstown on May 12 1988 and was received at 9SQN the following day. From August to October 1988, A25-102 was tested at the US Naval Air Test Centre at Patuxent River, USA for electro-magnetic interference. Over this period, A25-101 was attached to ARDU for gunnery trials.

During Christmas 1988 9SQN relocated to RAAF Townsville and on February 15 1989, was disbanded. Production delays at HdH had led to A25-114 being delivered twelve months late, so only the eight RAAF Black Hawks delivered by this date were handed over to A Squadron of the Army's 5th Aviation Regiment. Subsequently, all Black Hawks from the HdH production line were delivered to the Army.

In May 1987, an additional 25 Black Hawks had been ordered. These Batch Two aircraft, with minor changes from the first 14, were serialled A25-201 to A25-225 (c/n between 701292 and 701455). Also, the External Stores Support Systems (ESSS) equipment was obtained for most of the Black Hawks. These are sub wings which enable the carriage of additional fuel tanks, an important improvement to range for operation in Australia's vast north.

A25-201 was completed in 1989 and retained by Sikorsky in the US as a development vehicle for a number of Australian-requested engineering changes. It was formally delivered to the Army on June 13 1991. Most of this batch were delivered to the 5th Avn Regt at Townsville to complete the equipment of A Squadron and to equip B Squadron. The number of Black Hawks in service then made Australia the largest operator of the type outside the USA.

The last aircraft off the HdH production line A25-225 was completed five months ahead of schedule and delivered to the Army on January 30 1991. The first aircraft had taken 30,000 manhours to complete, the last less than 10,000 manhours. In army service the 39 Black Hawks are flown operationally by the two squadrons of the 5th Avn Regt at Townsville and in the training role by the School of Army Aviation at Oakey. In addition, one aircraft is operated for development flying at ARDU. One of the school's aircraft, A25-217, was lost in an accident near Oakey in June 1992 and two more were lost in a collision during training exercises.

TECHNICAL DATA
(Sikorsky S-70 Black Hawk)

DESCRIPTION: Four crew multi-role battlefield transport helicopter capable of carrying 10 troops.

POWER PLANT: Two 1723shp General Electric T700-GE-701A-1 turboshafts.

DIMENSIONS: Diameter of main rotor 53ft 8in (16.39m); length 50ft 1in (15.26m); height 16ft 10in(5.13m).

WEIGHTS: Empty 11,284lb (5118kg); loaded 22,000lb (9979kg).

ARMAMENT: Door-mounted 7.62mm machine guns.

PERFORMANCE: Max speed 160 knots (296km/h); cruising speed 145 knots (268km/h); range internal fuel 324 NM (600km); rate of climb 450ft (137m)/min; service ceiling 19,000 ft (5790m)