Australia has ordered 40 US-made Black Hawk helicopters after scrapping an existing deal with Europe’s Airbus over performance issues with its existing fleet, as Canberra increases defence alignment with the US in the Indo-Pacific region.
The switch, which was initially announced in 2021 but not formalised until Wednesday, had been put under review by Australia’s new Labor government last year due to the nearly A$3bn (US$2.1bn) cost of buying the Black Hawks.
The deal comes on the heels of Australia’s move in 2021 to source nuclear-powered submarines from the US or UK, rather than from France, a decision that triggered a diplomatic conflict after Canberra tore up a A$90bn contract with French supplier Naval Group.
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