Nine Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk helicopters ordered by the Danish Air Force will be provisioned to accept an anti-submarine sensor, should the government in Copenhagen decide to purchase it, a senior air force official says on 21 October.
A Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky team is delivering the first MH-60R to Denmark on 22 October without the AQS-22 advanced low frequency sonar.
Though standard equipment on the US Navy MH-60R fleet, the Danish Air Force omitted the capability in order to focus the fleet on other missions, such as maritime patrol, anti-surface warfare and search and rescue.
But some officials in the government may prefer to equip the aircraft for the anti-submarine warfare role as well, says Capt Kim Bo Meier, an air force systems official with the Danish defence acquisition agency.
“It would be possible to put it in the helicopter,” Meier says.
Denmark selected the MH-60R in 2012 after a two-year competition. As all nine are delivered through April 2018, the Danish fleet will add to 225 MH-60Rs already delivered to the US Navy and Royal Australian Navy.
In addition to the missing sonar, the Danish variant of the helicopter also differs from the US Navy version with a UHF radio and a different deck locking system, says Lockheed Martin vice-president of Aviation and Unmanned Systems for Lockheed.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
