Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Multi mission maritime helicopter

Power Plant:

Two (1,225 kw) 1,910 shp General Electric T700-GE-401C turboshafts

Specifications:

Armament:

Anti-shipping missiles; torpedoes [ATK Mk 50 or Mk 46]; 12.7 mm (0.50 in) machine guns

History:

The MH-60 Seahawk, initially known as the LAMPS Mark II Block II Upgrade when development commenced in 1993, is a multi mission helicopter aimed at service with naval forces on board ships and on land.  Two SH-60Bs were converted to MH-60 configuration, the first flight being made on 22 December 1999. Those aircraft became known as the YSH-60R and performed flight testing at NAS Patuxent River in Maryland, USA in 2001.

In recent years the Australian Government released an Air 9000 requirement to seek a replacement for the Royal Australian Navy’s S-70-B2 Seahawk helicopters, which entered service in the late 1980s.  The new helicopter was also to fill the gap caused by the cancellation of the Kaman Seasprite helicopter.

The US Navy began operating the MH-60R in early 2006, the 100th machine being delivered in June 2011. The MH-60R is for both naval combat and support missions at the same time.  The weapons system allows it to conduct maritime surveillance and utility operations, anti-submarine warfare carrying two torpedoes, anti-surface ship warfare with up to two anti-ship missiles, etc.  The RAN machines are equipped to operate the AGM-114N Hellfire missile and the Mk 54 torpedo. This model of the Hellfire is aimed at anti-shipping missions whereas the AGM-114M as used by the Australian Army Tiger attack helicopters is aimed at the anti-armour role.  The Mk 54 torpedo is also able to be operated from the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.

The aircraft is manufactured by Sikorsky, Lockheed Martin being responsible for the digital cockpit, multi mode radar, acoustic sonar suite, long-range infra-red camera and other sensors designed to detect, identify, track and engage surface and sub-surface targets.

In June 2011 the Australian Government announced it had ordered 24 MH-60R Seahawks to replace the 16 S-70 Seahawks in service for the RAN, the order being processed through the US Foreign Military Sales channel and managed by the US Navy.  The aircraft are based at HMAS Albatross at Nowra, NSW and operate from vessels of the Australian Navy, the first aircraft if delivered on time to be delivered in early 2014.

As part of the contract Sikorsky set up a helicopter re-manufacturing facility at its Helitech business in Brisbane, QLD. This facility was set up initially to re-manufacture and re-sell on the global market the Australian Defence Force’s 34 surviving S-70A-9 Blackhawks and 16 RAN S-70B-2 Seahawks when they became surplus to requirements in 2014.  It was proposed five S-70s would be re-manufactured a year, the Company finding buyers on the global market.  It was also proposed other H-60 series aircraft from the Asia/Pacific region would eventually require overhaul and re-sale.

The RAN’s first two aircraft were scheduled for delivery to US Naval Air Station Jacksonville in early 2014, at which time NUSQN 725 was to be established alongside US Navy squadrons operating the type.  A training program was put in place for crews and maintenance personnel, and a further five aircraft were to be delivered in 2014.  At that stage the unit would return to Australia with the first seven aircraft, be commissioned at RAN NAS Nowra as No 725 Squadron, an operational unit, with operations to commence in 2015.

A new training complex for the aircraft was built at Nowra, including a Romeo full-motion simulator, this entering service in mid-2014, with training commencing in early 2015.

The project also acquired a retired SH-60B airframe from the Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.  This machine has been used as a non flying training aid.  The US Navy had originally intended to re-manufacture SH-60Bs and SH-60Fs to the new MH-60R standard but found it was cheaper and more efficient to build new aircraft, the SH-60Bs and SH-60Fs being placed into storage at Davis Monthan as SH-60Rs came into service.  The SH-60B was designated from those available and was delivered to Jacksonville in July 2013 where it was refurbished to near MH-60R standard and was then transported to Nowra for training.  All Australian MH-60Rs were expected to be delivered by August 2016, carrying serials in the N48 block and attached to No 725 Squadron, RAN.

The first MH-60R (N48-001) was delivered to RAN Nowra during the week commencing 13 October 2014, together with the non-flying MH-60R “Bromo” maintenance training-aid airframe which is used to train aircrew and maintainers, being delivered on board an RAAF C-17A Globemaster (A41-211), arriving from US Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Florida.  In October 2015 the RAN accepted the Lockheed Martin AGM-114N Hellfire air-to-ground missile into service with machines attached to No 725 Squadron.

By November 2015, 14 of the 24 aircraft on order had been delivered to the RAN at HMAS Albatross, the last aircraft (N48-024) being handed over by Lockheed Martin in the United States on 27 July 2016. This last machine was handed over to No 725 Squadron at Nowra on 12 September 2016 by Lockheed Martin at a ceremony at HMAS Albatross which also marked the formal opening of the Maritime Helicopter Support Co (MHSCo) at Nowra by Lockheed Martin and its wholly-owned subsidiary Sikorsky Helicopters, this new facility providing maintenance and through life support services for the MH-60R.

By September 2017 the type had achieved 10,000 flying hours with the 24 strong MH-60Rs in the RAN fleet, the type having achieved a smooth introduction into service with the RAN thanks in part to a deep level of training support provided by the US Navy, and the establishment of No 725 Squadron at NAS Jacksonville in Florida in 2013 to transition crews and maintainers to the new type.

First of the type to suffer damage during service was N48-020 which broke free of its tie-downs in 2017 in heavy seas whilst based on board the RAN frigate HMAS Warramunga which was proceeding from Sydney, NSW to Perth, WA on its way to commence a deployment in the Persian Gulf.

In March 2018 two aircraft were flown to the United Kingdom on board two RAAF C-17As where they took part in operation Joint Warrior with aircraft from the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and Germany operating from Lossiemouth in Scotland.

In October 2021 he Australian Government announced that it was obtaining a further 12 eamples of the MH-60R Seahawk to join the 12 previously obtained and operating from the naval air station HMAS Albatross at Nowra, NSW bringing the total of Seahawk helicopters  to 48.  However, on 14 October 2021 an example ditched in the Philippine Sa when it had to make an emergency landing following a flight incident.  The machine at the time was operating from the Hobart-Class destroyer HMAS Brisbane as part of a Regional Presence with the Anzac-Class frigate HMAS Warramunga. The three crew was rescued by seaboats deployed from the Brisbane. The MH-60R fleet was grounded for a few days pending an investigation into the cause of the accident.