The Defense Acquisition Program Administration has begun the bidding process for the 9.613 trillion won UH/HH-60 performance improvement project, with Korean Air and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) submitting their proposals.
The UH/HH-60 is a helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky in the United States and was deployed from 1979. It gained widespread recognition by appearing in films under the nickname 'Black Hawk' and was also seen during the December 3rd martial law situation.
According to the defense industry on the 14th, both the Korean Air consortium (composed of Collins Aerospace and LIG Nex1) and the KAI consortium (including Sikorsky, Elbit Systems, and Hanwha Systems) participated in the competitive bidding for the UH/HH-60 performance improvement project announced by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration last January.
The Defense Acquisition Program Administration will evaluate the weapon systems research and development proposals submitted by the bidders and select a preferred negotiation partner to conduct negotiations. The selected candidate is expected to be chosen as soon as the 29th.
The successful bidder will proceed with the performance enhancement project for 24 UH-60 helicopters operated by the army and 12 HH-60 helicopters from the air force for a period of 84 months from the contract signing date.
Since the UH/HH-60 models began to be introduced in South Korea in the 1990s, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration is requiring that most of the airframes be repaired in this upgrade project.
Improvements are to include various components, such as engines, survival equipment, navigation equipment, cockpits, communication devices, external auxiliary fuel tanks, wiring, batteries and generators, seawater durability, cockpit access doors, body reinforcement and replacements, integrated overhaul, and technical manuals and simulators.
Korean Air, which participated in the competitive bidding, has been licensed to produce Black Hawks since 1990 after acquiring production technology from Sikorsky. Additionally, since 1991, Korean Air has been responsible for complete disassembly, restoration, and reassembly of parts, successfully upgrading more than 130 aircraft.
KAI emphasizes that it can receive technical support through its consortium with the original manufacturer, Sikorsky. Korean Air also has a long history of performing overhauls and possesses independent technical expertise from maintaining over 3,700 U.S. military aircraft.
Korean Air has particularly operated a separate organization to obtain airworthiness certification to ensure that military aircraft can be safely deployed in real combat. As a result, it uniquely possesses type certification and airworthiness certificates for unmanned aircraft in the domestic defense industry.
There are observations in the defense industry that while one-time performance improvement technology is important for selecting a contractor for this upgrade project, the capability to operate and maintain the helicopters afterward will be regarded as a more crucial factor. This is because the upgraded helicopters are expected to be in operation for over 20 years.
A person in the defense industry noted, "The decision on which company is selected for this performance improvement project will determine the success of our military's modernization efforts," adding that "Korean Air, which has sufficient maintenance and repair capabilities, is believed to be receiving high scores within the Defense Acquisition Program Administration."