This
is the first delivery to the Danish Defense, which is replacing their
former fleet of British Lynx helicopters with the Seahawk.
The second foreign military sales (FMS) procurement for the MH-60R,
Denmark signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance for the nine aircraft
in December 2012. The first FMS MH-60R Seahawks in Europe, their primary
missions will be maritime surveillance, anti-surface warfare, force
protection and utility transport operations, e.g. supporting NATO in
anti-piracy operations. In the Arctic and North Atlantic region, the
Danish MH-60R will also provide support to austere regions, patrolling
territorial boundaries, fisheries and perform search and rescue.
The MH-60R Seahawk is already operational and deploying as the primary
U.S. Navy anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare system for open-ocean
and littoral zones. U.S. naval forces have found the Romeo platform
to be an operationally effective and reliable first responder for all
missions and contingencies encountered at sea around the world. The
Royal Australian Navy was the first to procure the MH-60R through the
FMS program; their 725 Squadron achieved initial operating capability
in September 2015.
In addition to its primary mission of anti-submarine and anti-surface
warfare, the MH-60R Seahawk performs search and rescue, troop transport,
medical evacuation, ship-to-ship replenishment, and humanitarian relief
operations.
The U.S. Navy currently has eight operational carrier air wing squadrons,
seven expeditionary squadrons, two fleet replacement squadrons and two
test and evaluation squadrons operating the current inventory of 220
MH-60R’s. The U.S. Navy is expected to procure a total of 280
MH-60R aircraft by July 2018. |
