After heavy-lift Chinook and Apache attack helicopters, the United States has now agreed to sell 24 MH-60R helicopters to India. The decision by Washington will significantly enhance Indian Navy's firepower in anti-submarine warfare.
A week before the maiden 2+2 dialogue between the defence and foreign minister of both the countries in September 2018 in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led cabinet had cleared the deal, considering the dire need of the copters for Indian Navy.
The 24 MH-60 helicopters, built by Lockheed Martin's Sikorsky Aircraft, will be procured under the 'government-to-government' route at a cost of nearly $2 billion. The MH-60 is the US Navy's primary anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare helicopter and is also capable of search and rescue and supply missions.
These helicopters will come as replacement for 15 Sea King ASW (anti-submarine warfare) helicopters de-inducted from service in 1991 and one Sea King 42B MRH, lost in accident. The current MRHs (mutli-role helicopter) in service—Sea King 42Bs—were inducted in the 1980s when Indian Navy got its aircraft carrier INS Viraat.
The MH-60 is vital for the Indian Navy to maintain and improve the anti-submarine capabilities, which are currently dependent on ageing British-built Sea King and Kamov Ka-27 helicopters. Interestingly, the Indian Navy projected a need for 123 multi-role helicopters, which would mean the number of MH-60 helicopters being purchased could go beyond 24.
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According to officials familiar with the development, Indian Navy has been trying to procure such multi-role helicopters for over a decade. “Since the deal is under the foreign military sales, we are hoping to get delivery of these helicopters by next year," official said. Earlier, the same MH- 60R was selected through competitive bidding, but the deal could not be cleared due to the price being high, leading to cancellation of the entire tender process.
Another official said considering the urgency of the Indian Navy, the US government may take off some of the MH-60R helicopter from the flight deck of their aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford, which has been non-operational for some technical reasons. "Parallel efforts are being made to get at least four to five MH-60R from its non-operational aircraft carrier," an official said.
Navy officials claim that it is presently facing a critical shortage of helicopters with several frontline warships flying with empty helicopter decks. Official say the situation is so bad in the Indian Navy that virtually all of its frontline destroyers and frigates are operating without any anti-submarine helicopters.
Meanwhile, in February, the Navy initiated the process of procurement of 111 Naval Utility Helicopters (NUH). These helicopters will replace Chetak Helicopters and will be utilised for search and rescue, casualty evacuation and torpedo drops. According to Expression of Interest (EoI) issued by the Indian Navy, 95 helicopters out of 111 will be manufactured in India by a select Indian Strategic Partner. The project is likely to provide major boost to ‘Make in India’ initiative and fillip to manufacturing capability of helicopters in India.
