
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - Without a fiscal year 2017 budget in place, the Navy will delay a service life extension plan necessary to fly its Sikorsky MH-60R/S Seahawk helicopters into the 2040s when they are replaced by a next-generation vertical-lift platform.Plans are to begin a service-life assessment program for the MH-60S in the current fiscal year, but without a defense authorization bill, the four-year process will not begin until at least fiscal 2018, according to Capt. Craig Grubb, director of…