Colombia buys 15 Black Hawks from the US

The Colombian Govt signs a pact to buy 15 Black Hawk helicopters for $225 million from Sikorsky Aircraft.

The Colombian government has signed an agreement to purchase 15 Black Hawk helicopters for $225 million from Sikorsky Aircraft, with the choppers to be supplied to the Andean nation through the US Army, the Spanish news agency EFE said.

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According to a press release issued Wednesday in Paris by Sikorsky, a subsidiary of United Technologies, the Colombian government plans to use these helicopters for national defence and to combat drug trafficking.

The price of the helicopters includes spare parts, support and the training of pilots, said Ricardo Perez, Sikorsky's head of sales for Latin America.

Sikorsky Aircraft currently supplies Black Hawk helicopters to 26 nations around the world, which use the aircraft for a wide variety of missions, from combat assault and peacekeeping to disaster relief and medical evacuation.

The helicopters will be supplied as part of the US' foreign military sale programme, under which the American army purchases defence equipment on behalf of other countries on a no-profit, no-loss basis.