The U.S. State Department has decided to approve a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to the Government of Spain of MH-60R Multi-Mission Helicopters with Support and related equipment for an estimated cost of $950 million. The proposed sale will improve Spain’s capability to meet current and future threats. The MH-60R Multi-Mission Helicopter will provide 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. Spain will have no difficulty absorbing these helicopters into its armed forces. The U.S. State Department has approved the possible sale to the Government of Spain of eight (8) MH-60Rhelicopters; twenty (20) T-700-GE-401C engines (16 installed, 4 spares); thirty-two (32) AGM-114R(N) Hellfire missiles, all up rounds; two (2) Hellfire II Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM); one hundred (100) WGU-59/B Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) II Guidance Sections, all up rounds; eight (8) Link 16 Multifunctional Information Distribution Systems Joint Tactical Radio Systems (MIDS JTRS) (8 installed); and four (4) Airborne Low-Frequency Sonars (ALFS) (4 installed on 4 aircraft). The principal contractor will be Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Owego, NY. There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale.
Also included are M514 impulse cartridge/cartridge actuated devices; MJ20 cartridge actuated thruster/cartridge actuated devices; WB53 fire extinguisher cartridge/cartridge actuated devices; CCU-136A/A impulse cartridges; M299 Hellfire missile launchers; GAU-21 crew served guns; LAU-61 digital rocket launchers; M152 High Explosive warheads for airborne 2.75 rockets; MK66 MOD 4, 2.75-inch rocket motors; rocket motors, 2.75-inch, MK-66-4 inert; WTU-1B inert warheads (HA23); AN/ARC-210 RT-2036 radios with Communications Security (COMSEC); AN/AAR-47 missile warning systems; AN/SSQ-62F sonobuoys; AN/SSQ-53G sonobuoys; AN/SSQ-36B sonobuoys; SRQ-4 Hawklink radio terminals with Hawklink Crypto Control Modules; AN/APX-123 Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) transponders; AN/ALE- 47 dispenser, Electronic Countermeasures; Advanced Data Transfer Systems (ADTS); AN/AAS-44C(V) Multi-Spectral Targeting Systems; Identification Friend or Foe Mode 4/5 Cryptographic Applique, KIV-78; Joint Mission Planning Systems (JMPS); Embedded Global Positioning System/Precise Positioning Service (GPS/PPS)/Inertial Navigation Systems (EGI) with Selective Availability/Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM); Airborne Low Frequency Sonars (ALFS) ; AN/ARQ-59 Hawklink radio terminals; Training Simulators/Operational Machine Interface Assistants (ATS/OMIA); tactical operational flight trainer; AN/ALQ-210 Electronic Support Measures (ESM) systems; APS-153(V) multimode radars; spare engine containers; spare and repair parts.
Sikorsky MH-60 Seahawk (or Sea Hawk) is a twin turboshaft engine, multi-mission United States Navy helicopter based on the United States Army UH-60 Black Hawk and a member of the Sikorsky S-70 family. The most significant modifications are the folding main rotor and a hinged tail to reduce its footprint aboard ships. Able to deploy aboard any air-capable frigate, destroyer, cruiser, fast combat support ship, amphibious assault ship, littoral combat ship or aircraft carrier, the Seahawk can handle anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASUW), naval special warfare (NSW) insertion, search and rescue (SAR), combat search and rescue (CSAR), vertical replenishment (VERTREP), and medical evacuation (MEDEVAC). The MH-60R was originally known as “LAMPS Mark III Block II Upgrade” when development began in 1993 with Lockheed Martin (formerly IBM/Loral). The MH-60R is designed to combine the features of the SH-60B and SH-60F. Its avionics includes dual controls and instead of the complex array of dials and gauges in Bravo and Foxtrot aircraft, 4 fully integrated 8″ x 10″ night vision goggle-compatible and sunlight-readable color multi-function displays, all part of glass cockpit produced by Owego Helo Systems division of Lockheed Martin.
Onboard sensors include: AN/AAR-47 Missile Approach Warning System by ATK,Raytheon AN/AAS-44 electro-optical system that integrates FLIR and laser rangefinder, AN/ALE-39 decoy dispenser and AN/ALQ-144 infrared jammer by BAE Systems, AN/ALQ-210 electronic support measures system by Lockheed Martin,AN/APS-147 multi-mode radar/IFF interrogator, which during a mid-life technology insertion project is subsequently replaced by AN/APS-153 Multi-Mode Radar with Automatic Radar Periscope Detection and Discrimination (ARPDD) capability, and both radars were developed by Telephonics, a more advanced AN/AQS-22 advanced airborne low-frequency sonar (ALFS) jointly developed by Raytheon & Thales, AN/ARC-210 voice radio by Rockwell Collins, an advanced airborne fleet data link AN/SRQ-4 Hawklink with radio terminal set AN/ARQ-59 radio terminal, both by L3Harris, and LN-100G dual-embedded global positioning system and inertial navigation system by Northrop Grumman Litton division. Beginning in 2020, CAE’s MAD-XR has been fielded on MH-60Rs, providing it with a magnetic anomaly detector. Offensive capabilities are improved by the addition of new Mk-54 air-launched torpedoes and Hellfire missiles. All Helicopter Anti-Submarine Light (HSL) squadrons that receive the Romeo are redesignated Helicopter, Strike Maritime (HSM) squadrons.
