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First two Black Hawk helicopters to arrive in Slovakia in 2017: official

Xinhua, January 2, 2017 Adjust font size:

The first two multipurpose UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters for which production was launched in the United States for the Slovak Armed Forces in mid-2016 should arrive in Slovakia in 2017, Slovak Defence Ministry spokesperson Danka Capakova confirmed on Sunday.

The new American helicopters are set to replace the current Russian Mi-17 machines that are close to the end of their lifespans.

Slovakia is set to acquire nine Black Hawks in total for 261 million U.S. dollars.

The largest contract in the history of modernizing the Slovak Armed Forces, carried out via the U.S. Government's FMS program, was signed by the former management of the ministry.

Personnel in Slovakia are currently undergoing training for the new helicopters.

"The necessary training for aviation and security personnel is on progress, as it isn't a short-term or one-off activity," Capakova said. Endit