Reconditioned Black Hawk specialist Ace Aeronautics is gearing up for significant expansion as it lines up multiple new orders – including another unit for repeat customer Ukraine.
Kiev’s GUR intelligence agency already operates a pair of Ace-supplied Sikorsky UH-60As for special forces missions but has just signed for a third A+-standard example, says chief executive Rich Enderle.
“We signed a deal for the third one last night,” he told FlightGlobal on 12 March. “We hope that if we get US export approval we will have that on a boat within 60 days.”
Like the preceding aircraft, the latest acquisition has been paid for through a crowdfunding initiative, Enderle confirms.
Meanwhile, Ace is “very close to finalising a deal” with an unidentified South American country for a total of 24 helicopters – 12 sourced from the company and 12 upgrades of its existing fleet.
Talks are also ongoing with an undisclosed North African nation, which Ace hopes will close in 2026, says Mike Tremlett, executive vice-president business development and marketing.
If successfully concluded, those deals will build on existing agreements with several European nations including Austria, Portugal and Slovakia.
“We have a significant backlog under contract right now,” says chief strategy officer Bob Caldwell. That comprises around 30 helicopters, he says, with potentially as many as 200 more in the pipeline. To cope with the potential growth, Ace is adding additional space at its Guntersville, Alabama facility, he adds.
Ace’s ability to service this growing demand was boosted in 2024 by its appointment as prime contractor on the US Army’s Black Hawk Exchange and Sales Transaction (BEST) programme.
BEST sees the service auction off older UH-60Ls to fund their replacement by newer M-model aircraft.
Under the terms of its agreement with the army, Ace Aero is contracted to store up to 70 UH-60s each year, plus 12 more from other government agencies, says Tremlett.
Once inducted into its upgrade programme, a UH-60 is stripped back to bare metal to check for fatigue or corrosion issues, with its engines, transmission and blades similarly examined and reconditioned.
Avionics obsolescence issues are also addressed, with the company’s Garmin G5000H-based AceDeck VL-60 system a favoured update.
Ace in November last year also signed a deal with developer Skyryse to equip aircraft with the SkyOS advanced flight-control system.
Once retuned to flight-worthy condition, the helicopter is painted and any customer-specific modifications added.
Ace has also acquired additional UH-60s for part-out, enabling the creation of customer-specific sustainment and contract exchange programmes, says Tremlett.
Earlier this year, Ace was appointed by Sikorsky as an approved service centre and reseller for the Black Hawk programme. “That was a real vote of confidence,” says Caldwell,
Tremlett sees its offering as “complementary” to Sikorsky’s new-build programme by helping to introduce new customers to the Black Hawk family, particularly more cost-constrained nations.
“It’s a benefit to customers and a benefit to Sikorsky as well,” he adds.
