Arthur McMiler
Collins Aerospace, an RTX subsidiary, has secured an $80 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to develop a modular open systems architecture for the avionics system of the U.S. Army’s H-60M aircraft.
Funding will be allocated and work sites assigned with each task order, according to a Department of Defense announcement released Thursday. Contract work is expected to be completed on March 7, 2029. The Army Contracting Command in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, initiated the contracting activity through the internet, with one offer received.
Black Hawk Variant Upgrades
The H-60M is a new Black Hawk helicopter variant that Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sikorsky is supplying to the Army. In January, Sikorsky performed ground tests on a Black Hawk helicopter equipped with two of the Army’s new GE Aerospace engines.
Sikorsky also secured a $6 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in October to install its ALIAS/MATRIX flight autonomy system onto an experimental fly-by-wire UH-60M designated as MX. With the installation, the Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command can test and evaluate various autonomy capabilities, from single pilot operations to fully pilotless flight.
Warfighting Capability Enhancements
An upgrade of the UH-60M was declared on initial operational capability status in February 2023. It involved the aircraft’s integration of Northrop Grumman’s Common Infrared Countermeasures technology designed to provide protection from shoulder-fired and vehicle-launched anti-aircraft missile threats.
In August 2022, AT&T and Lockheed Martin also conducted a test on UH-60M to demonstrate the 5G.MIL network and private cellular network interoperability to improve aircraft readiness and speed up maintenance operations in support of warfighters.
