- Ukraine’s intelligence service is working no less than two American-made UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.
- GUR has operated one Black Hawk for a 12 months, but a second recently made an appearance in a social media video.
- Western governments have indirectly supplied NATO helicopters to Ukraine, meaning Kyiv acquired them privately.
The shadowy agency that controls Ukraine’s spies now flies no less than two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. In response to rumors that one in all the GUR intelligence service’s UH-60s had been shot down, the agency released a brand new video that showed not one but two of the American-made helocopters. How Ukraine got its hands on any Black Hawks in any respect isn’t clear.
Proof of Life
The story began last week on Telegram, when Russian military blogger Yevgeniy Poddubniy posted a video of what he described as a Ukrainian Armed Forces helicopter that had been shot down on the border between the 2 countries. Poddubniy described the helicopter as a “American-made UH-60 or (Soviet-made) Mi-24.”
On the time, just one UH-60 was known to fly in Ukrainian service—one flown by GUR, the national intelligence service. In response, GUR posted the next video showing not just one, but two working Black Hawk helicopters. Each has a blue and yellow Ukrainian aviation roundel and a big Ukrainian flag on the side sliding doors.
As a spy agency, GUR is notoriously clever of their use of social media. The video not only refuted the allegation the UH-60 was shot down, but shows two helicopters without explanation. This prompts all styles of uneasy questions for Russia, resembling: what are the helicopters used for? How did they get to Ukraine? And, possibly most significantly, exactly just what number of Black Hawks does Ukraine have?
Sourcing Black Hawks
In February of 2023, GUR revealed that it operated a Black Hawk helicopter by placing it within the background of a photograph without explanation. America and other donors haven’t supplied any Black Hawks to Ukraine, so the query was: how did it get there?
The helicopter’s license plate, N60FW, tracked back to Alabama-based Ace Aeronautics. In April of 2023, ABC News reported Ukraine had raised $6 million to buy the plane “from a personal seller”, which was apparently Ace Aeronautics or an intermediary between the corporate and the Ukrainian government.
In 2022, the corporate posted a video of the particular helicopter below.
The aircraft is listed within the Federal Aviation Administration’s registry as a UH-60A, the unique Black Hawk variant flown by the U.S. Army. The UH-60A medium lift helicopter began replacing the Vietnam-era UH-1 “Huey” helicopter within the early Nineteen Eighties and first saw motion within the 1983 invasion of Grenada. The -A model had a crew of 4, carried 11 troops or two tons of cargo internally, had a top speed of 184 miles an hour, and a variety of 368 miles.
The Army began divesting itself of UH-60A helicopters within the early 2010s, replaced them with newer UH-60M and refurbished older models dropped at the UH-60V standard. Since 2012, U.S. Army Redstone Arsenal’s Black Hawk Exchange and Sales Team has released nearly 550 UH-60s from Army service. Those helicopters not snapped up by other government agencies are placed on the industrial aircraft market, with the proceeds of the sales going to fund the acquisition of latest Army helicopters.
Two or…?
Where did Ukraine’s second Black Hawk come from? Florida’s JetLease is promoting five UH-60s on the market, including recent UH-60Ls, while Helitrader advertises one other five. The helicopters are on the market, if Ukraine can find the cash to buy them.
There are also private efforts outside Ukraine meant to source a Black Hawk for the country’s military. Weapons to Ukraine, Czechia’s largest fundraiser for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, has raised greater than $1.6 million to buy a used Black Hawk it has named “Cestmir”. The nonprofit claims that it needs $4.5 million. In keeping with Key Aero, the helicopters typically sell for $500,000 to $1 million, but total acquisition costs can reach $3.5 million.
The query everyone desires to know is: just what number of Black Hawks does Ukraine have? GUR has revealed it has two, nevertheless it is distinctly possible it operates more. As #2’s reveal makes clear, Ukraine’s spies will likely keep additional helicopters—in the event that they exist—within the shadows until it might gain some advantage by revealing them.