US confirms accelerated delivery of Black Hawks to Australia

Black Hawk helicopters are replacing Australia’s MRH-90 Taipan helicopters following the crash of an MRH-90 in Queensland during Exercise Talisman Sabre on 28 July and the subsequent grounding of the aircraft.

“The future of our relationship, and especially our defence cooperation, looks brighter than ever. We share a vision with our friends across the Indo-Pacific of a region that is free, open, and secure. And we’re committed to making that vision a reality,” US Secretary Austin said.

Australia and the US face shared challenges such as destabilising actions and China in the Indo-Pacific region, Austin said.

Australian Deputy PM Marles said Australia is enormously grateful to the United States for speeding the delivery of the Black Hawks.

“This is something that we really appreciate, and is again, an example of America standing up in a moment which we really need it,” he said.

Both leaders affirmed their commitment to further deepen defence cooperation, including through defence technology collaboration, force posture initiatives, and the trilateral AUKUS partnership with the United Kingdom. They also celebrated recent announcements on historic cooperation between Australia and Japan, exchanged views on shared security challenges, and discussed further alliance initiatives to support a free and open Indo-Pacific. The two leaders also surveyed the global security environment, sharing perspectives on the situations in Ukraine and the Middle East.

VIEW ALL

Earlier this year, three new US-built UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters arrived in Australia to be operated by the Australian Army.

Two Lockheed Martin-built helicopters, transported by US Air Force C-17 Globemaster transport plane to RAAF Base Richmond in Sydney on 30 July, are part of an initial batch of a total 40-strong helicopter fleet ordered by the Australian Defence Force. A third UH-60M Black Hawk arrived on Friday, 4 August, also via US Air Force C-17, according to a Defence spokesperson.

Earlier this year, Defence and the Commonwealth confirmed the acquisition of 40 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, after approval was given from the US State Department for a US$1.95 billion purchase of the systems in August 2022.

Robert Dougherty

Robert is a senior journalist who has previously worked for Seven West Media in Western Australia, as well as Fairfax Media and Australian Community Media in New South Wales. He has produced national headlines, photography and videography of emergency services, business, community, defence and government news across Australia. Robert graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Public Relations and Journalism at Curtin University, attended student exchange program with Fudan University and holds Tier 1 General Advice certification for Kaplan Professional. Reach out via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via LinkedIn.