By following the country’s policies, NASC reached an agreement with Ministry of the Interior (MOI) and Ministry of National Defense (MND) where the MND prepared for a purchase of 60 UH-60M Blackhawk helicopters, 15 of which were purchased on behalf of NASC for rescue missions. The 1st and 2nd deliveries of 3 and 2 UH-60Ms arrived at Chingchuankang Airport, Taichung on December 18 of 2015 and July 11 of 2016, respectively. Today (the 6th), one more just arrived. The 1st to the 5th batches of pilots and seed maintenance crew had finished their training in the US and returned home to prepare for training programs. More UH-60Ms will continue to arrive for service, and they will be deployed at 5 bases across the country for rescue missions.
Director General of NASC Tung Chien-Cheng indicated that the UH-60M Blackhawk was a utility helicopter designed and produced by Sikorsky for general purposes. That is to say, the helicopter is a perfect platform to add or modify mission equipment to suit whichever mission it is designated for, and now there are a wide variety of variants. Being the latest model, UH-60M has the best performance among its variants, and this model is designed to break flight range limit and capable of overcoming the treacherous terrains in Taiwan, a great improvement for the rescue capability in the mountains and at sea.
Director General Tung keeps pointing out that the UH-60M is equipped with twin turbo engines to provide the maximum take-off weight of 23,500 lbs, cargo lifting capacity of 9,000 lbs and increased speed and range, not to mention the ability to install different equipment appropriate for the mission at hand. This is a significant improvement for the efficiency of medical evacuation, water carrying capacity for firefighting in the mountains and extended cruise range. These birds will join the AS-365N Dauphin for disaster rescue, emergency response, medical assistance, observation and patrol, and transportation missions. NASC has established the goal of minimized costs for maximized rescue capacity, and is dedicated to improving the government’s 3-dimensional disaster rescue performance. These efforts are exerted to further protect people’s lives and properties with an expectation that people will show their supports to NASC.