Australia gets final MH-60R Seahawk
Lockheed Martin and the US Navy have delivered the 24th, and final, MH-60R Seahawk helicopter to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the company announced on 12 September. The hand-over occurred at Lockheed Martin’s logistics and maintenance facility in Nowra, New South Wales.
The MH-60R helicopters are replacing the RAN's fleet of S-70B-2 Seahawk helicopters. The Australian Department of Defence ordered the 24 MH-60Rs in 2011 via the US foreign military sales programme to meet its Air 9000 Phase 8 requirement for multirole naval combat helicopters.
The MH-60R is designed for missions including anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare as well as VHF/UHF/link communication relay, medical evacuation, personnel transport, logistics support, naval surface fire support, vertical replenishment and search and rescue.
Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky will support the RAN's fleet through the Maritime Helicopter Support Company (MHSCo), which provides through life support logistics services to sustain peak flight readiness for the Seahawk helicopters during the fleet’s estimated lifespan of 30 years.
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