Pentagon buys 120 Sikorsky helicopters

The Department of Defense executed contracts for Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. to manufacture 120 helicopters, at a value of $1.5 billion.

Stratford-based Sikorsky is the largest employer in Fairfield County, and is a division of Hartford-based United Technologies Corp.

Under an existing procurement contract, the U.S. Army is spending $924 million to purchase nearly 80 Black Hawk helicopters, and Sikorsky is manufacturing more than 40 Seahawk helicopters for use by the U.S. Navy.

The aircraft will be built in Stratford through 2012.