Sikorsky signs five-year contract to build H-60 Helicopters for U.S. Army and Navy

The U.S. Army and Navy signed an $8.5bn contract with Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., to buy a baseline quantity of 653 BLACK HAWK and SEAHAWK helicopters through December 2017.  The five-year contract will yield significant savings for the U.S. Government compared with purchasing the same quantity across five separate annual agreements. The five-year agreement also allows the Army and Navy to order as many as 263 more aircraft within the same contractual terms.  If exercised, the optional purchases could push the contract value as high as $11.7bn.  Actual production quantities will be determined year-by-year over the life of the program based on funding allocations set by Congress and Pentagon acquisition priorities.