New Delhi: India begins the process of acquiring 24 state-of-the-art anti-submarine warfare helicopters for the Navy from the US firm Lockheed Martin after signing a $905 million deal, reported NDTV.
The outdated Indian Navy Sea King helicopters, acquired from the UK in 1971 will be replaced by MH-60R helicopters. It will detect and if necessary, engage Chinese and Pakistani submarines and warships in the Indian Ocean region, says the report.
The MH-60R helicopters are also designed to fire the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) developed by the Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace. The NSM can engage warships at a range of 185 kilometers.
The deal is being handled by the US Navy which has directed Lockheed Martin to hasten the delivery process by transferring three MH-60Rs from the US Navy’s inventory of undelivered MH-60R choppers to India. This shall help Indian Navy pilots and engineers to train on the chopper prior to full-scale induction on board aircraft carriers, destroyers and frigates in the fleet.
The first MH-60R helicopters from the US will arrive next year.
(Inputs from NDTV)
