PAF to acquire advanced Black Hawk training systems

Lockheed Martin’s S-70 Black Hawk virtual maintenance trainer provides interactive 3D simulations of maintenance tasks and is one of a family of high-fidelity, synthetic training devices currently available

Businessworld / LOCKHEED MARTIN

MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines is acquiring an advanced virtual training and maintenance system from US-based Lockheed Martin for its growing fleet of 31 Black Hawk helicopters.

Lockheed Martin announced yesterday its upcoming delivery of helicopter training devices and services that will enable in-country pilot training for the Philippine Air Force (PAF).

The US-based global defense technology company said it has signed a direct commercial sale contract with the Department of National Defense (DND) involving the delivery of S-70 Black Hawk full motion simulator, a virtual maintenance trainer and associated courseware to the PAF.

Lockheed said the Philippines operates a fleet of European-made Sikorsky Black Hawks for a range of missions including search and rescue, humanitarian aid, firefighting and troop transport across the archipelago.

“It’s a privilege to partner with the Philippine Air Force with a suite of systems to support their training requirements as they grow their fleet of S-70 Black Hawk helicopters,” Lockheed Martin vice president for Air and Commercial Solutions Tim James said.

“This contract award is a long term investment in the PAF’s mission readiness and reflects Lockheed?Martin’s proven ability to deliver sustainment solutions across the entire operational pipeline,” he added.

Lockheed Martin said the S-70 Black Hawk full motion simulator is an aircraft digital twin training solution that replicates the exact sights and sensations of flying an S-70 Black Hawk aircraft.

The virtual maintenance trainer delivers high fidelity, physics-based models of every airframe subsystem, from hydraulics to avionics, that lets maintainers train in a fully immersive, risk-free environment.

“Lockheed Martin remains committed to its longstanding partnership with the Philippine Air Force. Through these advanced training systems, we effectively support the needs of its growing force and expanding Black Hawk fleet,” Lockheed Martin vice president and regional chief executive for Asia and India William Blair said.

“These solutions build on the PAF’s ongoing efforts to enhance training, ensuring crews and maintainers remain mission ready, while advancing their broader modernization goals,” he added.

In addition to the training devices and courseware, Lockheed Martin said the contract includes sustainment and spares support through August 2028.

Meanwhile, the PAF will continue to train Black Hawk pilots at the US-based Sikorsky Training Academy as its in-country training capability is being established.

Lockheed Martin, in a statement, said it “uses a digital twin of the Black Hawk to build the most accurate and up-to-date representation of the aircraft’s systems, components and configurations to enhance training effectiveness, and a digital thread of the Black Hawk’s operational flight program to create high fidelity simulations in days rather than years to keep pace with aircraft modernization efforts.”

In addition to the Black Hawk, Lockheed Martin also supports training for other Lockheed Martin aircraft including the CH-53K, F-35, F-16 and C-130J.