Lockheed Martin has been awarded a firm-fixed-price contract by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) for 12 additional Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk helicopters. The new helicopters will be procured via the U.S. Government’s Foreign Military Sales agreement. The new aircraft will add a third ‘Romeo’ squadron with an unparalleled capability to the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) Fleet Air Arm. Sikorsky is a Lockheed Martin company.
“The ‘Romeo’ Seahawk helicopter instills confidence in navies worldwide for its high operational availability in the harsh maritime environment, and for the fully integrated mission systems and sensors that quickly generate a complete picture of the surface and subsurface domains,” said Hamid Salim, vice president, Sikorsky Maritime & Mission Systems. “We thank the RAN for showing confidence in the broad mission flexibility of this proven multi-role helicopter. Ongoing and planned upgrades to the MH-60R through partnership with the U.S. Navy, RAN, other international partners and industry will ensure the aircraft’s reliability and mission effectiveness against emerging threats for decades to come,”he further added.
The newly ordered helicopters are part of the Australian Government’s Project SEA 9100 Phase 1 (Improved Embarked Logistics Support Helicopter Capability). The 12 new MH-60R aircraft will create a common fleet of maritime helicopters supporting all of the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) air-capable platforms.