Procurement: July 16, 2004

Archives

Thailand wanted to buy 32 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, but at $12 million each, could not afford that many. So only nine UH-60s were purchased. To make up for the missing UH-60s, Thailand received 30 refurbished UH-1 helicopters from the United States, paying $30 million for spare parts and pilot training programs. The UH-1s had served in the U.S. Army from the late 1960s to 1990. The refurbishment gives them another 5-10 years of service life (depending on how well they are maintained, and how intensively they are used.) The UH-1 is a smaller, and less capable helicopter than the UH-60. The UH-1 has a max takeoff weight of 4.7 tons, compared to 10 tons for the UH-60. This translates into a payload of 1.5 tons for the UH-1, versus 3.5 tons for the UH-60, range of 340 kilometers versus 590, max speed of 220 kilometers an hour versus 300. The UH-60 is also better able to take rifle fire and keep flying. However, since the Thai army is fighting irregulars and bandits, the UH-1 can get the job done as well as the UH-60, especially if there are more UH-1s available.

 


Article Archive

Procurement: Current 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 


X

ad
0
20

Help Keep Us Soaring

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling. We need your help in reversing that trend. We would like to add 20 new subscribers this month.

Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage. A contribution is not a donation that you can deduct at tax time, but a form of crowdfunding. We store none of your information when you contribute..
Subscribe   Contribute   Close