The final batch was delivered in two stages. Five helicopters arrived in the Philippines aboard an Antonov An-124 Ruslan heavy transport aircraft, which landed at Clark Air Base on August 3. The remaining two aircraft were delivered by sea and were also unloaded in early August. Although the helicopters are already physically in the country, the formal handover ceremony is scheduled for the end of the month. Authorities in Manila traditionally organize such events with the participation of senior representatives of the Department of National Defense and the armed forces.
The Philippines ordered the Black Hawks under two separate contracts:
- 16 aircraft under the first agreement,
- 32 aircraft under a second, significantly larger tranche.
This brings the total to 48 helicopters delivered to various units of the Philippine Air Force. The aircraft are used for transport, support of counterterrorism operations, medical evacuation, and disaster-response missions. One aircraft has been lost to date, in a crash in June 2021 that killed six people.
Photo: Antonov Corporation
Philippine authorities have not ruled out further purchases, both to expand the fleet and to replace older helicopter types that are gradually being withdrawn from service. In this case, additional S-70is could potentially be acquired for the Philippine Army Aviation.
Polskie Zakłady Lotnicze, part of Lockheed Martin, maintains a stable order backlog for the S-70i. Helicopters currently in production include aircraft ordered by:
- the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic,
- Los Angeles County in the United States.
In both cases, the helicopters are being produced in the baseline configuration and will subsequently be converted into the S-70i Firehawk variant, a specialized version designed for aerial firefighting and rescue missions. It is also possible that the Mielec plant is fulfilling undisclosed contracts for customers that do not wish their purchases to be made public. Such arrangements are common in the aerospace industry, particularly in the case of government orders.