The new Armed Black Hawk kit allows UH-60s to be quickly reconfigured for new mission sets, allowing greater flexibility and eliminating the need for dedicated helicopter types.
Sikorsky announced on Apr. 15, 2026, its new Armed Black Hawk kits, on occasion of the Army Aviation Warfighting Summit in Nashville, Tennessee. The kit adds new stub wings on new or existing UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, allowing them to carry rockets, guided air-to-ground missiles and Gatling guns.
The design appears to be an evolution of the kit shown in a video in August 2024, with some differences clearly visible. At the time, the kit was undergoing a validation and live fire campaign on Yuma’s ranges, in Arizona.
Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, has highlighted the kit allows the proven UH-60 to be rapidly repurposed for air mobile assault, close support fire, medical evacuation, ISR, and tactical air-lift. The company says this would allow greater flexibility and eliminate the need for dedicated helicopter types.
We’re extending the role of the Black Hawk into new mission sets including airmobile assault, close support, medical evacuation, ISR and tactical lift, in a single, battle-tested airframe.
— Sikorsky (@Sikorsky) April 15, 2026
“The new Armed Black Hawk kits give warfighters one aircraft that can do it all: a single, versatile, combat-proven platform where ground units can quickly switch out the commercially-produced kits, keeping mission readiness high,” said Sikorsky Vice President and General Manager Rich Benton.
Armed Black Hawk kit
As mentioned earlier, both the concept rendition included in the press release and model of the Armed Black Hawk kit installed on a UH-60 helicopter at the Army Aviation Warfighting Summit showed a different configuration compared to the ones seen on the Armed Black Hawk in the past. Notably, the new modular armament wings are thinner, compared to the thicker and heavier stub wings of the earlier Armed Black Hawk kit.
Both the previous and the new variants of the kit show the ability to employ six weapon stations. This allows the Armed Black Hawk to be equipped with two 7.62 mm guns on window mounts, GP-19 pods with .50 cal GAU-19 three-barrel Gatling guns, 19-rocket MEL pods and optional precision-guided missiles.
The mounting points can be configured based on mission requirements, and so far Sikorsky has shown multiple configurations. While the new stub wings appear to possibly have a more prominent downward slope, possibly for enhanced aerodynamic performance, the mounting points appear to maintain the same ground clearance.
For instance, both the 2024 video and the new renderings show the Armed Black Hawk equipped with a quad-rack carrying four AGM-114 Hellfire laser-guided missiles and 19-round rocket pod for 70 mm rockets on the outermost hardpoints, while the inner hardpoints carried the forward-facing GAU-19 .50 caliber guns. Two M134 7.62 miniguns installed on window mounts completed the loadout.
Interestingly, the UH-60 shown at the Army Aviation Warfighting Summit showed four canisters possibly for Air-Launched Effects (ALE) on the port (left-side) inner hardpoint and a combination of one AGM-114 Hellfire, one AGM-179 JAGM and two Spike NLOS missiles, together with the latter’s datalink antenna installed on the wingtip.
Rapidly configurable and effective
Sikorsky has said that the kits can be rapidly installed on existing UH-60M Black Hawks, and can be acquired through Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) route or the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route for international users. Foreign customers can also get the kit installed outright from Lockheed Martin’s Polish subsidiary, PZL Mielec, a faster route than the lengthy and tedious FMS process.
“Offering these upgraded kits is another example of our commitment to delivering 21st Century Security solutions that deliver unmatched performance, lifecycle savings and gives soldiers the reliable, interoperable capability they need to win today and tomorrow,” said Sikorsky Vice President and General Manager Rich Benton.
Sikorsky further explained that there are two production-ready kits available for close support or precision strike capabilities. These can be installed on the existing UH-60M fleet of any user, offering a multirole capability and delivering “assault, transport and support functions, cutting acquisition and sustainment costs.”
The kit can also be pre-installed on future production helicopters, part of fresh orders, as an “integrated solution.” The reconfiguration downtime of the helicopter for the installation of the kit takes less than three hours, allowing rapid role changes.
Sikorsky further added in its statement that the new kit builds “on years of experience supporting an armed Black Hawk fleet in the Middle East. This allows the company to be “uniquely positioned to provide next-generation kits for tomorrow’s mission.”
