Albania has received its first two Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks, with the aircraft arriving in the Balkan country Jan. 13.
The aircraft were flown inside a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster to Tirana, the capital of Albania.
The country was able to secure the aircraft thanks to over $50 million in U.S. funding assistance.
“The new helicopters will help bolster Albania’s rotary-wing capabilities and the ability to conduct medical evacuation, personnel recovery, search-and-rescue missions, and support NATO’s logistics movements for operations and exercises,” the U.S. Embassy in Tirana said on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Albania signed the contract for the Black Hawks in May 2020, and training for pilots and technicians has been underway for several years, completed with the New Jersey National Guard.
At a recent Albanian Air Force pilot graduation ceremony, the country’s defence minister, Niko Peleshi, said the new aircraft would play an important role for the NATO alliance in the country.
“We are part of a large and powerful alliance, which is facing many new challenges in terms of defense security after Russia’s invasion and aggression in Ukraine,” he said.
