Black Hawk: A Logistic Success Story

Since its initial fielding in 1979, over 350 UH-60A BLACK HAWK helicopters have been delivered to the U.S. Army. This aircraft is in operational units at six CONUS locations and in Germany, Fielding to Korea is scheduled for later this year as well as introduction of the BLACK HAWK helicopter to the Reserves and the National Guard. It has matured from a fledgling in test and early production to a first line aircraft performing operational missions on a daily basis in CONUS and Europe. The successful design, development, test and production activities that have advanced the BLACK HAWK to its present status were supported by many disciplines. The impact of the logistic support discipline on the success of the program is the topic of this paper. The logistic success of a new weapon system is dependent upon two principal factors: the inherent design features which enhance the reliability, availability and maintainability of the system; and, the integrated logistic support program which is created to support the weapon system during its operational lifetime, Both of these factors were recognized by the Army as absolutely essential and were strongly promulgated in the competition for the Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System (UTTAS) which was won by Sikorsky Aircraft with its UH-60A helicopter.