Lockheed Martin has secured a USD447.2 million contract for the production of 12 MH-60R Seahawk multirole naval helicopters for the Republic of Korea Navy (RoKN).
The US Department of Defense (DoD) announced on 12 April that work on the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract, which includes the delivery of the anti-submarine warfare (ASW)-capable rotorcraft, will be performed in Owego, New York (52%); Stratford, Connecticut (40%); and Troy, Alabama (8%), and is expected to be completed by December 2024.
US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting authority.
The announcement comes after South Korea’s Defense Project Promotion Committee selected the MH-60R Seahawk in December 2020 to meet an RoKN requirement for 12 additional anti-surface- and ASW-capable rotorcraft.
The Pentagon announced on 12 April that Lockheed Martin was awarded a USD447.2 million contract to supply 12 MH-60R helicopters (similar to this one in Royal Australian Navy service) to the RoKN. (Commonwealth of Australia)
The country’s Defense Acquisition Programme Administration (DAPA) announced at the time that the twin-turboshaft helicopter, which was chosen over the Leonardo AW159 Wildcat and the NHIndustries NH90 NATO Frigate Helicopter (NFH), was being acquired under the RoKN’s Maritime Operation Helicopter Batch II (MOH Batch II) programme.
Seoul has earmarked a total of KRW960 billion (USD854.3 million) for the programme, which is slated for completion in 2025 and aimed at “improving the long-distance surface and underwater detection and attack capabilities of naval vessels”, according to DAPA.
In August 2019 the US State Department had approved the potential sale of the 12 helicopters to South Korea – along with related equipment and services – for an estimated USD800 million.
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