RAN’s MH-60R Romeo helicopter fleet taking shape
The third and fourth MH-60R Romeo helicopters to be produced for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) by Lockheed Martin have left the company’s facility in Owego, NY, for Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida.
The aircraft will join the first two MH-60R helicopters, accepted by the RAN in December 2013, where they will be used for training.
The RAN has 24 MH-60R helicopters on order from Lockheed Martin and the US Navy. The aircraft will bring advanced anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare (ASW/ASuW) to the RAN, and replace the existing Seahawk helicopter fleet.
The aircraft are being delivered incrementally until 2017.
Commander David Frost, RAN Commanding Officer of NUSQN 725, said: ‘The first time we pack a punch now using the Hellfire missile that we've never had before. It's been a capability gap that we're now going to be able to fill with this aircraft. It's an aircraft that's jam-packed with sensors the likes of which we've never seen and the US Navy are still coming to grips with. It's an incredible aircraft.’
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