The State Department on Tuesday approved a potential Foreign Military Sale (FMS) of eight Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk multi-mission helicopters to Spain at a cost of $950 million.
Besides the helicopters, the sale also includes 20T-700-GE-401C engines (16 installed, four spares); 32 AGM-114R(N) Hellfire missiles, all up rounds; two Hellfire II Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM); 100 WGU-59/B Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) II Guidance Sections, all up rounds; eight Link 16 Multifunctional Information Distribution Systems Joint Tactical Radio Systems (MIDS JTRS); and four Airborne Low Frequency Sonars (ALFS).
The FMS also includes various missiles and rocket launchers; AN/AAR-47 missile warning systems; AN/SSQ-62F, AN/SSQ-53G, and AN/SSQ-36B sonobuoys; various communication and navigational systems and other engineering, technical, and logistics support services.
The primary contractor for the FMS is helicopter producer Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems [LMT], the owner of Sikorsky.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said the MH-60R will provide Spain 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 and will bolster the Spanish Navy’s ability to support NATO and remain interoperable with the U.S. and the NATO alliance.”
This FMS approval comes after several years of strong international MH-60R sales.
Last October, the State Department approved a possible $985 million FMS for 12 Seahawks to Australia (Defense Daily, Oct. 8, 2021).
Last April, the Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a $447 million order to deliver 12 MH-60Rs to South Korea (Defense Daily, April 13, 2021).
Also last April Thales said it won a $100 million contract from Lockheed Martin to supply 55 anti-submarine Airborne Low Frequency Sonar units to Seahawks serving with the U.S. Navy, India, Greece and Denmark (Defense Daily, April 27, 2021).
In 2020, the Navy awarded Sikorsky a $905 million contract for 24 Seahawks, three for the U.S. Navy and 21 for India (Defense Daily, May 14, 2020).
In 2019, the State Department approved an $800 million sale of 12 Seahawks for South Korea (Defense Daily, Aug. 7, 2019) and a $600 million sale of seven MH-60Rs to Greece (Defense Daily, July 12, 2019).