Sikorsky S-70 Sikorsky S-70 The Sikorsky S-70 is an American medium transport/utility helicopter family manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. It was developed for the US Army in the 1970s, winning a competition to be designated the UH-60 Black Hawk and spawning a large family in US military service. New and improved versions of the UH-60 have been developed since. Civilian versions, and some military versions are produced under various S-70 model designations. The S-70 family was developed to meet a US Army requirement to replace the UH-1 Iroquois family of utility medium-lift helicopters in 1972. Three YUH-60A prototypes were constructed, with the first
Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King to pursue the further development of the Sea King for other markets beyond the US Navy. One of the major variants of the Sea King to be produced was a model for civil operators, which was designated as the Sikorsky S-61L. The first operator of the S-61L was Los Angeles Airways, who introduced the type to service on 11 March 1962. Another noteworthy Sea King variant, the significant change this time being the adoption of a conventional hull, the Sikorsky S-61R, was also concurrently developed for transport and search and rescue (SAR) duties, this type being extensively operated by the