The State Department on Aug. 31 said it has approved a potential 10-year $360 million upgrade program for 24 Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk helicopters used by Australia’s navy mainly for anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare missions.
The aircraft were delivered between 2013 and 2016 as part of a $3 billion Foreign Military Sale (FMS).
The follow-on FMS contract would be for various upgrades to the multi-mission aircraft, including engineering change proposals for training devices and classified software, engineering and logistics technical assistance, support equipment, and spare and repair parts.
In a statement, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the upgrades “will improve Australia’s antisubmarine and surface warfare capability, provide and improved search and rescue capability, enhance its anti-ship surveillance capability, and will help it carry out international commitments for transport, surveillance, and search and rescue operations with the United States and other allies.”
Sikorsky is a unit of Lockheed Martin [LMT].
The MH-60R is designed to fire Hellfire air-to-surface missiles and MK 54 anti-submarine torpedoes.