U.S. has cleared New Delhi’s request to buy 24 new MH-60R Seahawk multi-mission helicopters

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MH-60R-Seahawk
MH-60R Seahawk is the naval variant of the popular UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter

According to DefenseNews’ Aaron Mehta, this sale comes with a healthy price tag of $2.6 billion. This approval is good news as tensions continue to simmer between India and Pakistan.

Along with the 24 MH-60R Multi-Mission helicopters, the Government of India has requested that they be fully equipped with Multi-Mode radar, T700-GE-401C engines, Airborne Low Frequency System (ALFS), AN/SSQ-36/53/62 sonobuoys; AGM-114 Hellfire missiles; Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System (APKWS) rockets; AN/AVS-9 Night Vision Devices and an assortment of other parts as well as spares, training, and logistical support.

Support for these platforms is not an easy task. The MH-60R comes with a complex and diverse bill of material requirements. ISO Group specializes in delivering complex requirements. We build quality supply chain solutions that enhance operational readiness, not only for this platform, but for more than 2000 additional weapons systems and platforms.

ISO Group has collected and built a propitiatory database with accurate and reliable data on more than 125 million part numbers. At the heart of our operation is our Defense Logistics Management System (DLMS®) that utilizes machine learning to analyze years of supply chain analytics that provide valuable insight to help keep your supply chain strong. One of our favorite tools, is our Availability vs. Risk index. With this data we can easily predict which parts are readily available with little risk to procure and which ones are high risk with limited availability.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced,
“The proposed sale will provide India the capability to perform anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare missions along with the ability to perform secondary missions including vertical replenishment, search and rescue, and communications relay,” the announcement reads. “India will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense.”

This proposed sale will not alter the basic military balance in the region and it will require the assignment of 20-30 U.S. Government and/or contractor representatives to India.

The principal contractor will be Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Owego, New York.  The purchaser typically requests offsets.  Any offset agreement will be defined in negotiations between the purchaser and the contractor.