“Produced jointly in the United States by Sikorsky
and Lockheed Martin, and in operation with the United States Navy
(USN) since 2005, the Romeo is a potent maritime combat helicopter,”
Rear Admiral Dalton said.
“Romeo is an evolutionary step forward from
Navy’s current Seahawk ‘Classic’ which it is replacing,
building on the known and trusted Seahawk air vehicle and incorporating
state-of-the-art sensors in an open architecture, integrated mission
system.
“Flying operations with Australia’s first
two Romeos will commence within the next few days at the United States
Navy’s Jacksonville Air Station in Florida.”
Navy has established the beginnings of what will become
725 Squadron at Jacksonville to work alongside United States Navy
Romeo squadrons for the next 12 months, where they will consolidate
their flying and maintenance skills.
The Commanding Officer of 725 Squadron, Commander
Dave Frost, said that his small team are excited to be introducing
this new capability.
“The work that has been done by everyone in
the DMO, RAN, USN and industry to reach this milestone is fantastic,”
Commander Frost said.
“My team are honoured to be given the responsibility
for establishing the Romeo capability, one that will be centrepiece
of the Fleet Air Arm for the next 30 years.”
AIR 9000 Phase 8 was approved in June 2011 with a
budget of $3.2 billion. The delivery of these first two aircraft was
achieved on budget and six months ahead of schedule.
