Source: CZ Defence Date: 26.09.2024 Author: Michal Pivoňka
The legendary UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters need no introduction. It is an American multi-purpose helicopter, which serves in many world armies or other forces and has proven its quality in many combat or rescue missions. In the Czech Republic, there is a holding Helicopter Alliance, whose Czech and foreign companies primarily focus on the comprehensive operation and modernisation of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. In this context, we asked for an interview with Aleš Kvídera, the investment director of the Helicopter Alliance group, who is in charge of all the companies that fall under it.
Could you introduce the Helicopter Alliance group and its member companies?
Helicopter Alliance is actually a formal umbrella over six companies, two from America, one from the Czech Republic and three from Slovakia. The most important one for us is Ace Aeronautics, based in Alabama, through which we purchase older Black Hawk helicopters. The second American company is the U.S. Aviation Training Solutions training centre in Florida, where, thanks to the favourable weather, we can train roughly over 300 days a year, which is unique and many flight schools and training centres take advantage of the Florida climate. Both of these U.S. companies were added to the Helicopter Alliance in early 2024 when we went through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) approval process. At the end of 2023, we added Czech Aviation Services, based in Kbely, Prague, to the Helicopter Alliance. It is a smaller engineering firm that can perform an extensive range of avionics upgrades for both helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. At the same time, we then included three Slovak companies in our holding, namely European Air Services Slovakia, Slovak Training Academy, which in the past provided training for example for Afghan pilots on Black Hawk helicopters, and last but not least the Heli Company. The latter provides maintenance and servicing of helicopters. This has basically created a group that can provide everything around Black Hawk helicopters.
So Helicopter Alliance specializes in the American UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. Can you give us an idea of how you work with these machines specifically?
We participate in specific auctions within the BEST program where older Black Hawk helicopters are offered, usually UH-60A and UH-60L helicopters that have retired from service with the US Army. Each auction has its own rules and all the supporting documentation, operational records and reports are available for the machines being auctioned, so we know what we're getting into. We have experts at Ace Aeronautics for this work, which is mostly former members of the U.S. Army who have dealt with UH-60s, so they know what they are doing. After we buy a helicopter, we take it to our plant in Alabama. Then the sales teams try to secure orders, where the helicopter is then prepared according to what the customer wants. The helicopter first goes through a complete inspection, which is called a PMI (Phase Maintenance Inspection), and then we start to repair the machine, replace certain elements, and well, if the customer also requires upgrades, we also upgrade. Within the cockpit we have our own certified technical solution - a digital so-called glass cockpit Ace Deck VL-60, which is based on Garmin G5000H system. This solution is very interesting for customers because older versions of Black Hawk "A" and "L" helicopters are analogue, i.e. obsolete, and thanks to our modernization we bring these older machines to the level of the glass cockpit of the latest S-70M Black Hawk helicopters, which are currently in production. Thus, we give the older helicopters a new life, in addition, we can offer the customer all the support activities associated with the operation of the helicopter. So we are talking about pilot training, mechanics, spare parts supply, maintenance services and so on. For example, Czech Aircraft Service can retrofit the helicopter according to the customer's needs directly at the place of operation. A great advantage is the fact that if the modernisation of the helicopter is complex, when the original machine remains basically only the airframe, its lifetime is ensured for decades to come.
Do you know how many companies in the world are involved in the modernization, conversion or servicing of UH-60 helicopters besides yours? And how many in Europe?
I don't think anybody has such a comprehensive range, only we do. But of course, we have competition in separate segments, such as servicing or upgrading aggregates or training. In America, for example, there are about 5 companies that we know about and follow. These companies are able to buy helicopters from auction, modify or upgrade them in some way and put them on the market. But they are no longer able to provide, for example, service support in Europe, they do not have the ability to retrofit the helicopter on the customer's site with special systems and provide pilot training, mechanic training, etc., for which they have to partner with someone or simply hire someone.
What can you equip UH-60 helicopters for military customers with? I'm thinking now of special equipment, armaments and so on.
As far as armament is concerned, we work with certain partners. We are able to pre-fit basically anything to the helicopter, which is essential in the context of weapons systems integration. For example, you have to have the cabling and electronic systems ready, the integration elements and sensors that will be needed for the installation of the weapon systems have to be ready in the helicopter, etc. So we need to know from the customer which types of weapon systems they will be using. The next step is then up to the aforementioned selected partner who deals with the specific weapon systems.
Do you purchase and then work on the UH-60 helicopters in advance without the machine having a customer, or do you start the whole process only after a specific request and subsequent contract with the customer?
The vast majority of purchases are generally made to stock to stock, but there are also purchases where we select a specific type of helicopter for a specific project. However, in the vast majority of cases we buy to stock and then offer the customer what we have in stock.
On average, how long does such a UH-60 helicopter upgrade take? Of course, it probably depends on the depth of the upgrade.
Exactly. It's mainly about what we install in the helicopter. But if we stick to a standard, if the customer just wants to revise the machine and ensure its airworthiness without any upgrades, such as installing a digital cockpit, then we can have the machine ready in three or four months. If we then upgrade the machine, installing a new digital cockpit, a cargo hook for transporting cargo under the helicopter, searchlights and so on, we are somewhere between six to eight months. If we equip the helicopter with some special systems, for example weapons systems, which have a delivery time of even one year, then the overall delivery time of such an upgraded helicopter to the customer is also adequately extended. In any case, the customer receives an upgraded Black Hawk from us in a matter of months, whereas the waiting period for new UH-60 helicopters is in the order of years.
Do you have certain types of upgrade packages - basic, advanced, complex - or do you tailor everything to the customer?
We have a "buffet" instead of packages. We invite the customer in and we discuss with them what they would like to use for their helicopter, what suits them. Many times the customer himself doesn't know exactly what he will want and what the options are, so it is very important when we introduce him at the buffet, based on our experience, to certain options, what goes with what, what complements each other and so on. We have an advantage in that the people who consult with customers on possible future helicopter configurations are former UH-60 military pilots who have been on a number of missions in Afghanistan or Iraq and know very well what and how. It is also always important for the customer to let us know how, where and in what conditions the helicopter will be used. Based on the consultation with the customer, we then make a specific offer that includes everything we think makes sense for the customer. Of course, we can fill the helicopter with all sorts of things, but the customer will not use them in the context of using the helicopter, which is nonsense, and we do not offer them.
To what extent then are your upgraded machines comparable in performance to brand new machines? Can the costs of purchasing the machines and operating them be compared?
If we are talking about avionics, the level of our modernization can reach a similar level to the S-70M Black Hawk version, that is, if the customer chooses a deeper form of our modernization with a digital cockpit and the like. A huge advantage is then the possibility to configure the cockpit directly to the customer's needs. In terms of price, we are roughly at a third to half of the new S-70M, depending on the specific equipment.
Can you give specific examples of projects you have completed for the military or other air forces?
Our flagship reference is a project for the Austrian army. It is the modernization of 9 UH-60 Black Hawks that the Austrian army owns. We started this project a few years ago and within this project we actually developed the Ace Deck VL-60 cockpit based on the Garmin system. Currently we have 7 upgraded helicopters already delivered and the last two are now being finished at our center in Alabama. So the machines should be completely delivered by spring 2025. The Austrians are very happy with our modernization, as we learn from various conferences and reports. As part of the future expansion of the Austrian squadron by 3 more machines, we will then also upgrade these helicopters. Another important project is the cooperation with the Portuguese army, where we will modernize their helicopters by delivering our new Ace Deck cockpit. Two of our upgraded helicopters are also operating in Ukraine, where they are serving the Ukrainian secret service. In addition to Europe, other military contracts are looming in countries such as Malaysia and Latin America.
Other customers include units belonging to the Ministry of the Interior, which includes, for example, police, firefighters, special forces and so on. In these cases, the Black Hawk can be equipped with certain special items, for example for firefighting. So we are able to supply, for example, a helicopter with a belly tank or a bambi bag according to the customer's wishes, equipped with, for example, a bubble window, which is used to control the action under the helicopter. The helicopter can also be fitted with special filters in front of the engines for flights in smoky or dusty environments, etc.
In this area, we have been awarded a four-year contract to provide an aerial firefighting module for the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, where our UH-60 helicopters, including our crews, operate from two bases - in Mělník and Přerov - for the needs of Czech firefighters. In this case, the Czech Republic can also decide to send these helicopters to help fight fires in another country in the European Union under the RescEU system, which is what happened and in July and August one of our UH-60 helicopters helped to extinguish large fires in Bulgaria and North Macedonia. In addition to the Czech Republic, our Black Hawk helicopters are authorised to operate in aerial firefighting in Slovakia, Cyprus, where 2 of our machines are now flying until the end of October, and we are also authorised for firefighting missions with Black Hawk helicopters in Italy. Also, we are already registering interest from some government institutions that they could purchase our machines in the future instead of renting them and include them in their own helicopter fleet. In this respect, in addition to the delivery of the machines, we are also ready to train or retrain local pilots and provide service and other operational support.
The Czech Police is considering the purchase of new, more powerful machines to replace the Bell 412s used today. Do you think the UH-60 would be a suitable type for the police or firefighters in the Czech Republic?
Well, we certainly see the potential of using Black Hawk helicopters for this user and I think it would be a good solution. I can say that there have already been some market consultations by the Ministry of the Interior on this possibility.
What about Black Hawks and the Czech Army? What potential do you see there?
The advantage I see is that we would be close to the customer. We can provide all the local support. With our knowledge, we would also like to build a repair centre in the Czech Republic to be as close as possible not only for domestic customers but also for other European users of the UH-60. The question now is what the army's strategy will be in terms of helicopter selection, what the budget will be and so on.
The Czech Army has also shown potential interest in CH-47 Chinook helicopters in the past. Are you thinking of expanding your modernization portfolio to include this type of helicopter in the future?
Any good company should have some future prospects, and this is one of the things we are discussing as part of our future strategy. So what we are doing now with the UH-60, we would like to transfer to the CH-47 Chinook. But it takes longer to do that, and of course we have to have a solution for cockpit upgrades and so on.
What are the future goals of the Helicopter Alliance holding, what would it like to achieve?
We would like to establish ourselves as Helicopter Alliance in the market, so that it can be seen that we are a holding that works very well together within our companies and can offer a comprehensive service to the customer. On the business side, we would like to succeed in Central Europe with the Ministries of Defence and to add the two other countries we are currently negotiating with, in addition to the already cooperating Austria or Portugal. Latin America or countries in the Far East, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and so on, are also interesting for us. We also want to develop technically, so we are finalizing the certification for the L model, and then we will definitely look at the certification for the M version.