The U.S. Navy has reached the halfway point in supplying the Royal Australian Navy with 24 MH-60R Seahawk helicopters.
The latest shipment of two MH-60R Seahawks, obtained by Australia through a U.S. Foreign Military Sales agreement, were recently delivered to Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland and then shipped to Australia aboard a Royal Australian Air Force C-17.
"As they come off the production line, the Australians have picked them up two at a time," said Cmdr. Scott Stringer, HX-21 MH-60 government flight test director. "This is a multi-year plan that should carry into mid-2016."
Later this year, the U.S. Navy's Air Test and Evaluation Squadron, HX-21, and the Royal Australian Navy's squadron 725 are scheduled to test modifications on the MH-60Rs, including the addition of an instrument landing system and a crash-survivable data recorder.
The modifications are the result of specific requirements for the helicopters requested by Australia.
The mission of HX-21 is to conduct developmental flight test and evaluation of rotary-wing and tilt-rotor aircraft in support of all United States Navy and United States Marine Corps training, operational combat and operational combat support missions.
