Sikorsky UH60 fuselage for the Graupner Bell 47G

The YUH-60A (S-70) was the winner of the United States Army Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System (UTTAS) competition in the early 1970s to replace the UH-1 Huey family. It would go on to serve as the basis for variants in service with other branches of the US military.

The Black Hawk was developed to meet a US Army Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System (UTTAS) requirement for a UH-1 Iroquois replacement in January 1972. Four prototypes were constructed, the first (YUH-60) flying in October 1974, and evaluated against a rival Boeing-Vertol design, the YUH-61A. A Preliminary Evaluation was conducted in November 1975 prior to delivery of the prototypes to the US Army. The evaluation was conducted to determine if the aircraft could be operated safely by typical Army pilots. Three of the prototypes were delivered to the US Army in March 1976, and one was kept by Sikorsky for internal research purposes. The Black Hawk was selected for production and the UH-60A entered service with the US Army in 1979.

In the late 1980s the model was upgraded to the UH-60L (First production aircraft 89-26179) which featured more power and lift with the upgrade to the -701C model of the GE engines. A newer model is being engineered (UH-60M), which will extend the service life of both UH-60As and UH-60Ls well into the 2020s, features still more power and lift and state of the art electronic instrumentation, flight controls and aircraft navigation control.