Black Hawk and Seahawk domestic maintenance possible, says Sikorsky

Commander Kyle made the comments at the Indo Pacific 2023 International Maritime Exposition on 7 November.

Sikorsky Australia, a Lockheed Martin company, already sustains and supports RAN’s Seahawk fleet and has upcoming plans for an expansion of logistics and enhanced workshops at the Nowra facility, he said.

There’s incredible synergy between the Black Hawk and Romeo, including component maintenance and airframe maintenance. In addition, more than 70 helicopter components have been repatriated to Australian production, he said.

Sikorsky Australia is also keen to establish a skills base apprenticeship program and establish a cohort of 20 apprentices at any one time, he said. It’s understood the current apprenticeship program takes three to four years to produce skilled personnel and has not completely recovered to pre-COVID-19 levels.

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.