The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said last week it notified Congress of a potential Foreign Military Sale of eight MH-60R Seahawk multi-mission helicopters with a potential price tag of $1 billion.
The deal would also include 18 T700 General Electric [GE] 401C engines (16 installed, two spares) and various communications equipment, electronic warfare systems, spares, training and other logistical services, according to a DSCA statement.
Prime contractors for the proposed deal are Sikorsky Aircraft, a division of United Technologies Corp. [UTX], Lockheed Martin [LMT] and General Electric [GE], according to DSCA. Sikorsky is providing the Defense Department with the airframe, according to a company spokesman. Lockheed Martin provides the mission systems and sensors, such as the radar and common cockpit, according to a company spokeswoman. GE provides the engines.
The MH-60R is the Navy’s primary anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface weapon system for open and littoral zones, according to Lockheed Martin. Secondary missions include search and rescue, vertical replenishment, naval surface fire support, medical evacuation and communications and data relay.
The Navy uses the MH-60R aboard its carriers, cruisers, destroyers and frigates, including ships equipped with Lockheed Martin’s Aegis Combat System, which is also installed on South Korea’s KDX III destroyers, according to Lockheed Martin.