12 More Black Hawks for National Police
On 26 April, Colombian president, Iván Duque, announced the donation of 12 UH-60A Black Hawk helicopters by the United States, to be used by the National Police to strengthen the fight against drug trafficking. The force, which reports to the Defence Ministry, is in charge of the main effort in the war against drug traffic, but also participates in the internal war against the guerrillas. “This is a multimillion-dollar contribution of defense capacity, and we continue to work hand in hand to protect our citizens,” Duque said, after a meeting with US Ambassador to Colombia, Philip Goldberg and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), James Walsh.
Procurement of the helicopters began in 2019 for a total of ten aircraft, later expanded to 12. Currently, the National Police operates nine UH-60L and ten UH-60A Black Hawks (two other UH-60As have been lost over the years) at Compañía Antinarcoticos de Aviación de Guaymaralm, north of Bogotá. Currently, the force also has one Bell 412EP, eight Bell 212, 32 Huey 2, three UH-1H, six Bell 206L, six Bell 206B-3, seven Bell 407 and two Hughes 500D, making it the largest police aviation in the world.
Their helicopters – especially the Black Hawks, Bell 212, Huey 2 and UH-1H – are routinely armed with machineguns, including GAU-17 and -19 miniguns, as they regularly confront the firepower of drug traffickers and guerrillas. With the new acquisition, the force will grow by more than 50 % and will increase considerably the firepower of the Colombian Police for assault operations, especially by the anti-drug units and the Jungla Groups – the special forces equipped for operations in the jungle.
The National Police and the three armed forces are also working on a project to replace the Huey 2, Bell 212 and UH-1H fleet with a single new platform, for which it is considering the AW139, the Bell 412 and the H145. A procurement decision will most likely fall to the new government.
Santiago Rivas in Buenos Aires