On a day when the Navy took delivery of the first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC), it also received two MH 60R multi-role helicopters from the United States.
The helicopters form part of the 24 MH 60Rs contracted from the US in 2020. They were received at Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) on Thursday. A third one is scheduled for delivery in August, according to a defence communication.
It said that the first three MH 60Rs were delivered to the Navy in the US last year, and that the helicopters “are being utilised for training Indian Navy crew.”
The delivery of all 24 helicopters will be completed by 2025. The induction of the state-of-the-art mission capable platforms, the Navy said, would significantly boost its integral anti-submarine warfare capability.
Naval sources said an MH 60R cell had been created at the Southern Naval Command in Kochi for the integration of the choppers into service. They replace the Seaking 42/42A that retired from service back in the 1990s.
As reported by The Hindu earlier, this is the first major induction of helicopters by the Navy in decades for ship-borne operations. MH 60R will operate from frontline warships and aircraft carriers.
