New Delhi: The Indian Navy received two MH-60R anti-submarine warfare helicopters on July 28, 2022 at the Cochin International Airport that arrived from the US. The two helicopters landed at the Cochin International Airport on board a C-17 of the US Air Force. The third helicopter is scheduled to be delivered next month (August).

A day before, US based Lockheed Martin/ Sikorsky posted a teaser announcing the expected arrival of three MH-60R multi-mission helicopters for the Indian Navy. The social media handle of Lockheed Martin said in a tweet that “Romeos are approaching India.” According to the tweet Romeos IV, V and VI are approaching India.

The delivery of all 24 MH-60R helicopters will be completed by 2025. They will be operating from aircraft carriers Vikrant as well as Vikramaditya, besides other surface vessels. The induction of state of the art mission capable platforms will significantly boost the integral ASW capability of the Indian Navy.

These three MH-60R choppers are different from the three delivered to the Indian Navy last year, which are being used for training. The MH-60R helicopter, known as the Romeo, is manufactured by US major Lockheed Martin, and is an all-weather vehicle designed to support multiple missions. These helicopters are fourth generation and are members of the Sikorsky S-70 family. These can be loaded with missiles and torpedoes for ASW action.

India had ordered 24 of these helicopters under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) from the US government in 2020.

A Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LoA) for procurement of 24 MH-60R multi-role helicopters was concluded with the US government.

The helicopters have been modified with several equipment and weapons unique to India, including Hellfire air-to-surface missiles and Mark 54 anti-submarine torpedoes and are meant to meet the immediate requirement of the Navy. These helicopters are going to add more power to the Indian Navy’s anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare capabilities in the Indian Ocean Region and Indo-Pacific Region. They will replace its fleet of the ageing British-built Sea King helicopters, which is now mostly used for transport rather than its actual role — anti-submarine warfare.

The Romeo choppers also have anti-surface-warfare capabilities, which means they will be capable of detecting surface threats and taking action against enemy ships too. Besides tracking submarines and engaging them, these choppers are capable of performing other maritime roles such as search and rescue, logistics support, personnel transport, medical evacuation, and surveillance.

With the arrival of MH-60R helicopters, the focus will be interoperability between the assets from the US vendors which is critical for the Navy and the Indo-Pacific Region. The Indian Navy is already flying the P-8I maritime patrol aircraft and later this year is expected to get Sea Guardian Drones from the US. Currently, the Indian Navy has deployed two Sea Guardian that were leased from the US based General Atomics.

The interoperability between the three US assets (MH-60R, P-8I and Sea Guardian) will strengthen the capabilities.

Once the COMCASA is implemented it will enable interoperability between the US and India all the assets including the MH-60R, P-8Is and Indian Navy warships would be able to operate as part of the digital network of the QUAD (Japan, Australia, India and the US) Navies, with NATO specified protocols compatible to US Link-22/Link-16 data link.

As reported earlier, the first batch of MH 60R ‘Romeo’ aircrew completed its 10 month long training at Naval Air Station, North Island, San Diego, US. The crew was trained on MH-60 H and their course included conversion training and other advanced qualifications. The Indian Navy in April had said that the aircrew flew from Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron – 41 (HSM 41) and during the training process onboard a US Navy Destroyer the crew achieved day and night deck landing qualification. This is the crew which will be responsible for the induction of `Romeo’ into the Indian Navy.

The MH-60R choppers will play a very important role in the IOR where the Chinese Navy continues to increase its presence and also in the Indo-Pacific Region.