"Fleet of 6 Black Hawk helicopters until 2030", Peleshi visits Farka air base

The Minister of Defense, Niko Peleshi, accompanied by the Chargé d'Affaires at the American Embassy in Tirana, David Wisner, as well as the Chief of General Staff of the FA, Major General Arben Kingji, visited the Farka air base, where they saw up close the two Black Hawk helicopters that had arrived recently in Albania.

In his speech, Minister Peleshi expressed gratitude for the support of Albania's strategic partner, the United States of America, evaluating the arrival of two helicopters as one of the most important operational capacities of our country in relation to NATO.

"This year is the 15th anniversary of our membership in NATO and we have started it with a big event, the arrival of two Black Hawk helicopters. It's just the beginning. We are in talks for two more in the medium term and by 2030 we hope that Albania will have a fleet of 6 Black Hawk helicopters. It is a donation from our US strategic partners, but also with a part from the state budget. We are building two specific hangars for the Black Hawk helicopters that will be completed within this year, here at the Farka airbase", underlined Minister Peleshi.

Together with the two Black Hawk helicopters, according to Minister Peleshi, Albania has been able to benefit from a complete package of support, including maintenance for a certain period, technical assistance and pilot training.

"It is an excellent model of cooperation, because it is not just the purchase of two aircraft, but together with it, we call it a complete package, we also bought maintenance for a certain period, technical assistance, training of our pilots. 8 pilots are trained in America through the state partnership that we have with the New Jersey Guard and various equipment for testing, diagnostics, so it's a complete package. We want to follow this model with other capacities as well" , stated the Minister of Defense.

Minister Peleshi also spoke about the other helicopters that are expected to add to our air fleet.

"We will continue to unify as much as we can our air fleet towards Black Hawk helicopters. The other two helicopters we are looking to buy are the latest Black Hawk helicopters. We want to walk on this road. We want to spend very carefully and intelligently the dedicated budget of 2 percent of GDP for security and defense. The times we are living in are difficult. Security and defense have become the headlines and challenges of all countries, especially in our region, which is a fragile region, and so we particularly appreciate this strengthening of our air force, but also all the other plans we have with our strategic partner, the USA. , emphasized the Minister of Defense.

While the Chargé d'Affaires of the US embassy in Tirana, David Wisner, praised the preparation of Albanian pilots and maintenance teams.

"We've heard from Washington, from Alabama and all the other training you've done about what great pilots you have, and of course pilots can't fly without maintenance people. And we're so proud of all the work that all the maintenance teams have done to make sure this is possible. We are really proud of this partnership and of all these excellent people who symbolize this partnership", said Wisner.

The two Black Hawk helicopters are Albania's first order for this model, supported by the US aid fund worth over 50 million dollars.

The new helicopters will help strengthen the capabilities of Albania's air force and the ability to carry out medical evacuation, personnel recovery, search and rescue missions as well as supporting NATO logistical movements for operations and exercises.

The two Black Hawk helicopters, which you added to our air fleet, are part of our most important operational capabilities in relation to NATO and other national and civil defense operations.

Grateful to our strategic partner, USA for this complete package of support, which includes the maintenance or training of our pilots! Let's continue the modernization of FA together!