In a significant milestone, Indian Navy’s MH 60 ‘Romeo’ (MH60R) helicopter undertook maiden landing on the indigenously designed and constructed aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant on Wednesday.
The helicopter from the naval air station INS Garuda Kochi landed on the aircraft carrier somewhere in the Arabian Sea.
The integration of the helicopter with naval warships is a major boost to the navy’s Anti-Submarine Warfare and Fleet Support capability.
Also, the integration would further strengthen the Navy’s capability to counter underwater threats, monitor maritime activities and conduct surveillance operations.
Earlier this month the MH-60R helicopter in another milestone for the Navy had landed for the first time on an indigenously built destroyer, INS Kolkata.
To be noted, India in 2020 signed a Foreign Military Deal (FMS) deal worth Rs 14,000 crore ($2.6 Billion) with United States for the procurement of 24 MH-60R helicopters.
These helicopters are being manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corporation.
Armed with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, MK 54 torpedoes and advanced precision weapons, the twin-engine helicopters can operate from frigates, destroyers and aircraft carriers.
As for the Indian Navy, these helicopters are being subjected to some customization which includes mission sensor suite comprising of APS-153 multimode radar with long/short-range search Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar imaging and periscope detection modes. And, also HAL developed Identification Friend-or-Foe (IFF) transponder units.
As of now, six helicopters have been delivered, while the delivery of the rest will be complete by mid- 2025.
