A squadron comprising six MH 60R multi-mission helicopters – the Indian Navy version of the helicopters that were used to attack the hideout of fugitive Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011 — will be commissioned into the Navy in March at INS Garuda, the naval air station in Kochi.
They are being inducted to make good the shortage of Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) helicopters in the Navy. These over 10-tonne helicopters that were shown to mediapersons at INS Garuda on Thursday, would be a game changer for the Navy since they can go into harm’s way, neutralise enemy targets, and safely return to ships, becoming the sole fleet of helicopters with the Navy to have self-defence capability. They can fire torpedoes, missiles and advance precision kill weapon system rockets. Their self-protection suite on them comprises chaff and infrared flares, which can be deployed automatically upon detection of threat, said the Navy’s pilots and engineers who are familiar with their capabilities.
