The United States is considering transferring or donating Black Hawk helicopters to Argentina.

In the context of bilateral defense negotiations, the United States is considering the possibility of transferring Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to Argentina at low cost or even free of charge.

The initiative aims to strengthen operational capabilities of the Army Aviation through the initial incorporation of between two and four used units.

The project seeks to progressively replace the Bell UH-1H Iroquois helicopters and their modernized Huey II versions, which currently make up the fleet and have accumulated over five decades in service.

In this context, the arrival of the Black Hawk would allow for the recovery of transport and deployment capabilities that currently face limitations.

The proposal gained momentum again after official meetings held in March, when former Defense Minister Luis Petri traveled to the United States. There, a broader cooperation agenda was discussed, which also includes other systems, such as Stryker armored vehicles, in line with a military modernization strategy of the Government of Javier Milei.

As analyst Andrei Serbin Pont explained, the alternative under discussion arises as a more viable option given the high cost of acquiring new helicopters.

The original plan contemplated the purchase of about 20 new units, but that possibility became conditioned by amounts that, as he pointed out, rise to “hundreds of millions of dollars.”

In contrast, the current scheme proposes to start the incorporation with a small batch of decommissioned UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters. Although they are not the most modern variants, the analyst stated that “it would already be an advance and probably at a much lower cost.”

The discussion includes that these first units could be transferred “at very low cost or free of charge,” as part of cooperation agreements. In this sense, the plan foresees gradually expanding the fleet as the older systems currently in operation are retired.

Today, the UH-1H and Huey II helicopters make up “the backbone of the army aviation,” as Serbin Pont detailed, with about 40 units in service. The incorporation of the Black Hawk would allow for a first step towards the modernization of that structure, while maintaining existing capabilities.