"The United States Department of State has approved the sale of 24 MH-60R multi-mission helicopters to India under its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. The value of the potential is USD 2.6 billion," read the statement released by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), the body that administers Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme.
"The proposed sale will provide India with the capability to perform anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare missions along with the ability to perform secondary missions, including vertical replenishment, search and rescue, and communications relay. India will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defence," the statement had added.
Back in 2019, the United States had approved the sale of 24 MH-60R multi-mission helicopters to India under its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. The approval was made in order to improve the security of a major defensive partner in the Indo-Pacific region.
The MH-60R is the most advanced marine multi-mission helicopter currently in use. The induction of state-of-the-art mission-capable platforms will significantly boost the integral Anti-submarine warfare capability of the Indian Navy.
The first three MH 60 ‘Romeo’ helicopters were delivered in the US in 2021 and are being used for training of the Indian Navy crew, they said.
“The delivery of all 24 MH 60R helicopters will be completed by 2025. The induction of state-of-the-art mission capable platforms will significantly boost the integral anti-submarine warfare capability of the Indian Navy," said an official.
India is procuring the choppers as part of an around ₹15,000-crore deal with the US government under the framework of foreign military sales.MH-60R helicopter manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corporation is an all-weather helicopter designed to support multiple missions with state-of-the-art avionics and sensors.
The Navy said it will be able to deploy the helicopters in a range of roles including in anti-submarine warfare, anti-ship strike, specialised maritime operations as well as search and rescue operations.
