The first of the 24 Lockheed Martin MH-60 R or ‘Romeo’ anti-submarine helicopters,
meant for the Indian Navy, has taken to the sky in New York for flight trials
and is likely to arrive in India by the end of July.
Viewers may note that the chopper is part of a deal $2.6 billion deal for 24 of these choppers.
The deal was approved in August 2018 the sale was worked out in April 2019.
As per reports, the first chopper took flight in Owego of New York. The aircraft will undergo
a series of flight trials before a final acceptance by a team of the Indian Navy.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes how the American made MH-60 ‘Romeo’ Seahawk could help
India hunt down Chinese submarines? Let's get started.
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The rivalry between India and China has been simmering.
China has invested heavily on increasing its military might
and a lot of focus has been put on expanding its Navy.
It has also been actively pursuing which many experts call the 'String of Pearls’ strategy.
This strategy aims to increase Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean region.
The idea is to have Chinese military and commercial facilities along sea lines of
communication, which extend from the Chinese mainland to Port Sudan in the Horn of Africa.
The sea lines run through several major maritime choke points such as the Strait of Mandeb,
the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Lombok Strait as well as other strategic
maritime centers in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Maldives, and Somalia.
MH-60R helicopter is designed for hunting submarines and ships
as well as undertaking search-and-rescue operations
The Indian Navy currently operates 11 Kamov-28 and 17 Sea King ASW helicopters.
But these have very limited capability and almost half of them are not flightworthy
The induction of Romeos is vital to fill the capability gap.
The Sikorsky MH-60 Seahawk is a twin turboshaft engine, multi-mission helicopter based on the
United States Army UH-60 Black Hawk and a member of the Sikorsky S-70 family.
The helicopter can fly at a maximum speed of 146 kn which is 270 km/h or 168 mph
and has a range of 450 nmi or 518 mi or 834 km. It has a service ceiling of 12,000 ft or 3,580 m.
Being multirole capable it can handle anti-submarine warfare (ASW),
anti-surface warfare (ASUW), naval special warfare (NSW) insertion, search and rescue (SAR), combat
search and rescue (CSAR), vertical replenishment (VERTREP), and medical evacuation (MEDEVAC).
The helicopter can be deployed from frigate, destroyer,
cruiser, fast combat support ship or aircraft carrier.
MH-60 R that India is going for is one of the several variants of the MH-60
and is nicked named the Romeo.
The MH-60R combines the features of the SH-60B and SH-60F.
Offensive mission capability of MH-60R Seahawk include anti-submarine warfare
(ASW) and anti-surface warfare (ASUW), so the weapons are geared mainly for those roles.
MH-60R helicopters can carry AGM-114 Hellfires for a strike against small vessels and land targets.
It has a top speed of Mach 1.3 and a range of 5 miles or 8 km.
MH-60R helicopters will be armed with MK 54 torpedoes It is Lightweight
Hybrid Torpedo developed by Raytheon. It has a speed or more than 40 kn or 74.1 km/h.
It carries a 96.8 lbs or 44 kg, high-explosive.
MH-60R will also have APKWS
70mm laser-guided rockets. It has a max speed of Mach 2.9 and range around 3 miles or 5 km.
The MH-60R lacks an anti-ship missile in its normal configuration. But according to Defense
Security Cooperation Agency, Naval Strike Missile (NSM) will be integrated into India’s MH-60Rs
NSM is a 5th generation anti-ship missile developed by Norway-based
Kongsberg Gruppen and U.S. missile maker Raytheon.
The missile has a range of 100 miles or 185 km and is capable of high subsonic speeds.
It has sea skim mode by which it travels very close to the surface,
making it hard to detect and intercept. It is equipped with a 276 pounds or 125 kg
multi-purpose blast/fragmentation warhead. NSM features an imaging IR-seeker which is
complemented by inertial/GPS navigation. The missile also has a built-in database
of representative ship types to distinguish between intended targets and other objects.
Importantly it can be used as an anti-ship missile as a for taking out land targets.
India is surrounded on three sides by water bodies.
It is paramount that the waters are protected from intrusion.
MH-60R Seahawk helicopter is considered to be one of the best since it has advanced combat
systems like sensors, missiles, and torpedoes to track and hunt enemy boats and submarines.
With a speed of 267km/h or 166 mph and a range of 834 km or 518 miles,
the Romeos can quickly cover a large area.
MH-60R Seahawk will be one of the most important facets
of the Indian Navy's Anti Submarine strategy.
It is to be noted here that Chinese subs are known to way louder compared to American or
European counterparts and this MH-60R is an ideal platform to exploit this vulnerability.
Romeos will surely be a concern for Chinese submarine captains going forward.