The Black Hawk Helicopter is the most dangerous Helicopter by US Army that is popularly used for air assaults, air cavalry, and aeromedical evacuations.
It’s a four-blade twin-engine, medium-lift utility military helicopter that a popular company Sikorsky manufactures for the United States Army. The one unit costs around $3 to $26 million depending on the variant because each variant has its pros and cons.
Sikorsky manufactures a civilian helicopter S-70, that costs between $12 million to $14 million.
How much does a Black Hawk Helicopter Cost? ( Range )
The exact price of a Black Hawk helicopter depends on the variant because, depending upon the variant; the Black Hawk will be equipped with an advanced weapon system for attaching missions, the ability to engage static or moving targets, forward-firing guns, Rockets, and laser-guided missiles, and much more.
But, a standard UH-60 Black Hawk will be available for as low as $5.9 Million with standard configuration, and the well-equipped variant with advanced features and advanced configuration can cost $25+ Million.
Black Hawk Variants
UH-60L Black Hawk
The UH-60L Black Hawk Helicopter is the most popular variant among the United States Army that is used for different roles like air assaults, air cavalry, medical, evacuation, surveillance, and, most popularly, aerial command.
The cost of this helicopter is estimated at $6 million. Still, this figure can vary depending on the number of units ordered and the relationship between the countries ( The one ordering the aircraft and the one delivering the choppers ).
HH-60 Pave Hawk
The second most popularly used chopper by the United States Air Force is the HH-60 Pave Hawk, which is also a twin-engine, four-blade chopper that is used for PAVE electric systems program, which is a search and recovery type of program that means the helicopter isn’t designed for aerial assaults and isn’t equipped with modern weaponry system. Still, it has weapons onboard to successfully troops from hostile conditions like battlefields success-60 Pave Hawk costs around 10.2 Million Bucks.
HH-60M Black Hawk
The next US Army chopper is HH-60M, another popularly used helicopter by not only the US army but also by other big armies in the world to do successful evacuations during the battlefields because it is designed specifically for evacuation and has all the built-in features like medical stuff, electronically controlled litter system for at least six patients, making the chopper super ideal for medical evacuation.
This chopper costs $25 Million.
Sikorsky VH-60N White Hawk
Up next is the Sikorsky VH-60N, another great chopper by the company. The company’s cheapest chopper comes for only $1.6 Million. The nickname of this chopper is “White Hawk” or “Angel” because it is used for saving or transporting VIPVIPsrsonally like the US President, Vice President, Foreign Heads of State, and other important personal and high-ranking staff. The pilots of this chopper are directly in contact with the current CEO of the military people inside the white house.
UH-60J Black Hawk
The UH-60J is a special chopper designed for only the Japanese Army and costs $12+ Million United States Dollars. This chopper is produced by the Japanese Air Self Defence department and licensed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
This chopper is partially used for VIP transportation and battlefield rescue missions.
The UH-60J is a Japanese-made aircraft and is only used in Japan.
Sikorsky EH-60A
This is the most advanced type of chopper that isn’t yet developed on a scale for commercial applications. Still, this concept chopper will cost around $20+ US Millions and will be used for modern electronic warfare.
The EH-60A can block enemy communications systems and the most advanced electronic system for disrupting the enemy’s electronic systems during the battle, which can give an edge to this chopper.
The Eh-60A requires two operators to operate the most advanced electronic system onboard.
Black Hawk Operating Cost
Depending on the variant in hand, the Black Hawk can cost millions of dollars just for operating the equipment.
There are no official statements about the operational costs, but we will provide you with an estimated range.
Cost Per Hour
The cost per hour for the maintenance of the chopper, as well as fuel and other expenses, mean the chopper can easily cost $2,000 to $4,000 for an hour. This price estimate can differ depending on the grounds the helicopter is operating and the market conditions of that ground.
Chopper Fuelling cost
Fuel cost depends on the scale of consumption, and that depends on several factors like the load/weight the chopper will be carrying, the altitude above sea level where the chopper will be flying, the external temperature, and most importantly, at what speed the chopper is moving, all these factors are going to determine the fueling cost of the aircraft.
Still, there are other factors like the use of weapons on board, but the estimate is that the chopper will cost between $800 to $2,000 to fuel one Black Hawk, which is entirely dependent on the fuel rates of the country.
Maintenance cost
For US Army, the biggest chunk of the Air defense budget goes to the maintenance of the equipment they possess, like tanks, choppers, fighting jets, artillery, etc.
Regarding Black Hawks, the maintenance cost for one chopper is tough because of different factors. Still, the US Army allocated a total budget of $1 billion to maintain Black Hawks to replace old parts with new ones or upgrade the weaponry system and many other things. This is the cost for one year; each year, they spend a whopping $1 Billion to upgrade their war toys.
Can Civilians buy a used Black Hawk Helicopter?
Civilians are allowed to purchase the non-military Black Hawk choppers. Still, they have no right to own a military helicopter, and the non-military Black Hawk is the one without the military hardware.
Civilians can get only available models or variants by spending as much as $3 to $5 million, depending on the aircraft’s condition.
The popular civilian chopper S-70 comes with a price tag of $14 million, which is the price for a brand-new model.
In the end, I would say that the US spent heavily on war equipment, including choppers, and their arsenal contains war choppers, evacuation, and search choppers.
And each Black Hawk is going to cost $3 to $25 Million, depending on the model and the features it has.
What is a Blackhawk Helicopter?
The Blackhawk helicopter is an impeccable wild looking medium-lift military helicopter that was first manufactured in 1979 by Sikorsky Aircraft for military operations and was heavily used in the battles of Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Blackhawk word comes from a US tribe based in Illinois that gave their name to the city.
The Blackhawk is the only bird that US military Coast Guard uses for Combat Search and Rescue ( CSAR) mission and Law Enforcement Patrol.
Many elite-class business tycoons also use this chopper for business meetings, and other uses of this heavy-duty aircraft are Media, Film Industry services, construction services, Agriculture, and Fisheries.
Different armies of the world have no access to this chopper, which means the common uses by the armed forces include troop transportation, assault operations, and rescue operations.
The 20th-century wars are only fought with this aircraft, like wars in Panama, Afghanistan, Somalia, and the Middle East.
