Albania receives its first two UH-60 Black Hawks from Sikorsky

Albania has received its first two UH-60 Black Hawks manufactured by Stratford-based Sikorsky Aircraft.

The aviation news site VerticalMag.com reported the aircraft were flown inside a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster to Tirana, the Albanian capital, on Jan. 13. Albania signed the contract for the Black Hawks in May 2020, and training for its pilots and technicians was conducted for several years with the New Jersey National Guard.

The country acquired the aircraft after receiving more than $50 million in U.S. funding assistance.

“The new helicopters will help bolster Albania’s rotary-wing capabilities and the ability to conduct medical evacuation, personnel recovery, search-and-rescue missions, and support NATO’s logistics movements for operations and exercises,” said the U.S. Embassy in Tirana in a posting on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in Tirana, Albania