REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. - The Security Assistance Command recently supported the first shipment of two UH-60M helicopters from Huntsville to Linkoping, Sweden as part of an ongoing Foreign Military Sales case.
An emergency implementation was requested by Sweden in order to have four helicopters available for training in January and a subsequent deployment to Afghanistan by April 2013 to be used for troop movement and medical evacuations. A second delivery of the two remaining training helicopters is scheduled for the end of January. The remaining 11 helicopters of the 15 total purchased will receive unique modifications, and be delivered beginning in August.
The FMS case is part of a Total Package Approach to provide materiel, parts and training to the Sweden armed forces. On-site training will be provided by a Technical Assistance Fielding Team from the Fort Bragg, N.C.-based Security Assistance Training Management Organization, a subordinate command of USASAC, according to Sharon Spinks, a country program manager for USASAC's European Command Directorate.
The Aviation and Missile Command's Security Assistance Management Directorate, Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center, Utility Helicopters Project Office, the Logistics Support Facility and Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.'s Communication and Electronics Command worked together with USASAC to meet the expedited delivery schedule, Spinks said. Normally requests for UH-60M helicopters take 36 months to complete, but AMCOM's SAMD was able to meet the requirement within one year.
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