NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy’s submarine-hunting chopper fleet is finally getting a much needed shot in the arm, with three MH-60R 'Romeo' multi-role helicopters, until now parked in the US for training Indian aircrews, flying home at a time when Chinese submarines are increasingly prowling the Indian Ocean and Pakistan is readying its new Chinese-built AIP (Air Independent Propulsion) equipped Hangor-class subs.
One of the Lockheed Martin-Sikorsky helicopters touched down at Kochi last week, while two more are slated to arrive this week, the US Embassy said on Friday. Once documentation and validation checks are completed, the choppers will be inducted into the Navy over the coming days.
"Another MH-60R Seahawk naval helicopter touched down on Indian shores! Developed by @LockheedMartin, this highly equipped helicopter was delivered to the @IndianNavy at Kochi last week, with two more arriving this week. Thrilled to see the U.S.-India defense partnership growing stronger," the embassy posted on X.
US envoy Gor called it “excellent news” for the growing bilateral defence partnership and maritime security in the Indo-Pacific.
These three Romeos are counted among the 21 already handed over to the Navy from the 24 contracted under a Rs 15,157 crore deal inked through the US foreign military sales route in February 2020 but had remained stationed in America for aircrew training. Their arrival will take the operational fleet in India to 18, up from the current 15.
Of the remaining choppers delivered on paper, three are still in the US undergoing India-specific modifications and certification, which involve integrating indigenous systems ahead of deployment. Helicopters already in service will also be rotated back to the US in batches for the same upgrades, sources said.
Three of the 24 contracted machines are yet to be delivered altogether, with the programme slipping past its original deadline of completing all deliveries by last year.
The twin-engine Romeos are one of the best in the sub-hunting chopper class. They are equipped with multi-mode radars, low-frequency dipping sonars, air-dropped sonobuoys and electro-optical sensors to track threats above and below the waterline and armed with Mk-54 lightweight torpedoes and Hellfire missiles for the kill.
The Navy has raised two Romeo squadrons so far, INAS 334 at Kochi in March 2024 and INAS 335 at Goa in December last year.
The deliveries, however, only partially address a gaping hole in the Navy’s rotary-wing fleet. As reported by TNIE, the Navy is examining a repeat order of the Romeos as a stopgap, given that even the full complement of 24 will cover just a fraction of its requirement for 123 naval multi-role helicopters to operate from frontline warships.
That acquisition has been stuck for a decade and a half, with the first RFI issued in 2011 for warships commissioned from 1997 onwards, then scrapped and re-floated in 2017 under the strategic partnership model but a contract remains elusive.