On the 2nd of July of 2026, the Portuguese Army announced the signing of a contract between NSPA (NATO Support and Procurement Agency) and the US based Sahar Group for the delivery of 3 retrofitted UH-60L helicopters1.
While at the time the value of the contract wasn’t disclosed, NSPA has now published a list of its contract awards from April to June of 2026. In this document it’s revealed that the contract is worth 87 258 274 euros, a figure that is double the expenditure of 40.8 million euros that was authorized for the procurement of the helicopters in October of 20243, and also higher than the 50 million euro budget of the Evacuation, Protection and Support Helicopter program in the Military Programming Law of 2023.
Under this contract, Sahar Group will supply 3 UH-60L helicopters, the schedule for their deliveries is the following:
First helicopter on the 3rd quarter of 2026
Second helicopter on the 2nd quarter of 2027
Third helicopter on the 2nd quarter of 2028
The Portuguese Army also has an option to procure a 4th helicopter; its planned delivery date is unknown.
To enable the Blackhawks to conduct a vast array of missions, troop transportation, CAS, firefighting etc, Sahar Group will have to deliver an array of different equipment and prepare all the UH-60Ls to use it. Per the tender documentation, this will be:
2x provisions for on-board FN M3M door guns, plus 2 more as an option
2x provisions for on-board M240 guns, plus 2 more as an option
(note that the firearms aren’t included)
1x External Gun Mount System (EGMS) kit, in which it can be mounted 2x FN M3M machine guns, 2x 70mm rocket pods, 1x FLIR, and 1x sponson sensor mount for MEDEVAC, SAR etc configurations
1x MEDEVAC system that includes: 2x patient litter, medical equipment, a rescue hoist (up to 270kg) and a searchlight
1x Armour kit for the cabin and cockpit for protection against smalls arms fire up to 7.62mm
1x FRIES bar for each helicopter
1x Firefighting kit for each helicopter: this includes a 2000L and 2950L bamby buckets, and an external basket to carry the bamby buckets when not in use.
Additionally, all helicopters will have an external cargo hook and there is also the contractual option to procure one internal auxiliary fuel tank system.
It was also recently announced by Moog that the company had been selected to equip the UH-60L helicopters with its Genesys Avionics Suite and 4-axis autopilot system (GRC 4000)4.
Sources:
1:https://www.facebook.com/ExercitoPortuguesPRT/posts/pfbid02RhZ9N34a6E38RkSPPKQ9ZkZw9MA3S7CQoxgh5wreQEZHTn2fe1cxb1coPop6VjXAl
2 : https://www.nspa.nato.int/business/procurement/bid-awards
4 : https://www.moog.com/news/operating-group-news/2026/moog-inc-announces-portuguese-army-selects-moog-avionics-to-modernize-uh-60l-fleet.html