US Approves Sale of Hellfire-missile Equipped 24 MH-60R helicopters to India

The United States has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to India of 24 MH-60R Multi-Mission helicopters made by Lockheed Martin for an estimated cost of $2.6 billion.

The choppers will be equipped with weapons such as Hellfire missile, advanced precision kill rockets and torpedoes.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale yesterday.

The Government of India has requested to buy twenty-four 24 MH-60R Multi-Mission helicopters, equipped with the following:  30 APS-153(V) Multi-Mode radars, 60 T700-GE-401C engines; 24 Airborne Low Frequency System (ALFS), 30 AN/AAS-44C(V) Multi-Spectral Targeting System; 54 Embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation Systems (EGI) with Selective Availability/Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM)  and 1,000 sonobuoys.

Also included are ten AGM-114 Hellfire missiles; five AGM-114 M36-E9 Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM); four AGM-114Q Hellfire Training missiles; 38 Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System (APKWS) rockets; 30 MK 54 torpedoes; 12 M-240D Crew Served guns; 12 GAU-21 Crew Served guns; two Naval Strike Missile Emulators; four Naval Strike Missile Captive Inert Training missiles; one MH-60B/R Excess Defense Article (EDA) USN legacy aircraft.  Also included are 70 AN/AVS-9 Night Vision Devices; 54 AN/ARC-210 RT-1990A(C) radios with COMSEC, thirty) AN/ARC-220 High Frequency radios, thirty AN/APX-123 Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) transponders and related equipment. The total estimated cost is $2.6 billion.

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.  India will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense.

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.