New Delhi: The first six Seahawk helicopters bought from the US in a multi-chopper deal in 2020 will be commissioned by the Indian Navy from its naval station INS Garuda on 6 March.
The newly-inducted Seahawks, or the MH-60R, will replace the Navy’s ageing fleet of the British-built Sea King helicopters.
As reported by ThePrint, the twin-engine helicopters are capable of operating from different warships as well as aircraft carriers. They will also be used by the Navy to carry out anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASuW), search and rescue (SAR), medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) and vertical replenishment (VERTREP).
The commissioning of these multi-role helicopters comes at a time when the Navy has been increasingly responding to incidents of piracy and missile attacks on merchant vessels by Yemeni Houthi rebels in the Indian Ocean Region — a spillover of Israel’s war on Gaza.
The past few years have also seen China’s increasing forays in the Indian Ocean.
The squadron, which will be commissioned in the Navy as INAS 334, is armed with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, MK 54 torpedoes, as well as advanced precision-kill rockets.
They are the first batch of the 24-aircraft deal signed under the government-to-government Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract with the US in February 2020. It is learnt the remaining copters of the $2.6 billion deal will be delivered to the Indian Navy by 2025.
The Seahawk has been tested in Indian Reference Atmosphere (IRA) conditions and is fully integrated into the fleet. The advanced weapons, sensors and avionics suite make the Seahawks ideal for the Indian Navy’s maritime security needs, offering enhanced capabilities for both conventional as well as asymmetric threats.
The Indian Navy in a statement said, “The MH-60R helicopter would enhance India’s blue-water capabilities, extending the operational reach of the Navy and supporting sustained naval operations across spectrums and over vast maritime domains.” It added the Seahawks in the IOR would strengthen the Indian Navy’s maritime presence, dissuading potential threats and ensuring a secure and safe environment in this strategically crucial region.
The Seahawk is a maritime variant of the Black Hawk helicopter used by the US military.
The MH-60R aircraft, manufactured by Sikorsky, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, is equipped with advanced digital sensors which include the multi-mode radar, electronic support measures system, infrared camera, datalinks, aircraft survivability systems, dipping sonar as well as sonobuoys.
In order to build a complete situational picture, the fully-integrated mission system processes sensor data. This in turn helps in tracking, targeting and engaging ships or submarines. The helicopter can be equipped with weapons such as torpedoes, air-to-ground missiles and rockets and crew-served guns.
The formal commissioning of these helicopters comes more than two decades after the Indian Navy first moved a proposal to acquire medium multi-role helicopters.
Seahawks are also operated by the Royal Danish Navy, the Royal Australian Navy, and the Royal Saudi Naval Forces.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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