MH-60R Acceptance Ceremony

INDIAN NAVY ACCEPTED THE first two of its MH-60R Multi Role Helicopters (MRH) from US Navy in a ceremony held at NAS North Island, San Diego on July 16, 2021. The ceremony marked the formal transfer of these helicopters from US Navy to Indian Navy, which were accepted by Indian Ambassador to USA. The ceremony also witnessed exchange of helicopter documents between Vice Admiral Kenneth Whitesell, Commander Naval Air Forces, USN and Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, Indian Navy.

Manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corporation, USA, MH-60R helicopters is an all-weather helicopter designed to support multiple missions with state of the art avionics/ sensors. Indian Navy is procuring 24 of these helicopters under Foreign Military Sales from the US Government. The helicopters would also be modified with several India Unique equipment and weapons. In order to exploit these potent helicopters, the first batch of Indian crew are presently undergoing training in USA. The induction of these MRH would enhance Indian Navy’s three dimensional capabilities.

PHOTOGRAPHS: US Navy Photo by MC2(SW/AW) Sara Eshleman (Left) Vice Admiral Kenneth Whitesell, Commander, US Naval Air Forces, left, presents the Material Inspection and Receiving Report for first aircraft to Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, Indian Navy during an acceptance ceremony on July 16, 2021; (Right) Two MH-60R Seahawks, assigned to the “Seahawks” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 41 participate in a formation flyover during a ceremony in which the Indian Navy inducted its first two MH-60Rs from the US Navy on July 16, 2021.