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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
World

Australia to spend $2bn on fleet of US Black Hawk helicopters

Members of Australia's Special Forces Counter Terrorism squad abseil from Black Hawk helicopters in Sydney, Australia [File: Reuters]

Australia has announced it will ditch its fleet of European-designed Taipan military helicopters a decade earlier than scheduled, replacing them with 40 Black Hawk choppers from the United States at an estimated cost of 2.8 billion Australian dollars ($1.97bn).

US manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp’s UH-60M Black Hawks will replace Australia’s fleet of MRH-90 Taipan helicopters, which have been plagued for years by costly maintenance issues, Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Wednesday.

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