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MH 60R Seahawk multi-role helicopters, a maritime variant of the Blackhawk helicopter, ahead of their commissioning into the Indian Navy.
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: In the middle of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s US visit, the Joe Biden Administration has approved a $52.8 million sale of sonobuoys for anti-submarine warfare for MH-60R helicopters operated by the Indian Navy.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency has delivered the certification for the possible sale to Congress, and the final commercial agreement will be inked after receiving the Congressional permission.
India has purchased 24 MH-60R choppers from the USA and received six of them so far. The sonobuoys will be a key equipment for the all-weather helicopters known as submarine hunters.
The announcement from Defence Security Cooperation Agency comes soon after Singh had a bilateral meeting with the Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin to review the global and regional security scenario. Austin made a special reference to the Indian Navy.
"The Indian Navy remains an important security provider in the Indian Ocean. Indian sailors have helped mariners in distress and defended global commerce, so we are committed to deepening naval cooperation, to doing more together with unmanned technology and to strengthening undersea domain awareness," Austin said on Friday.
According to the DSCA, New Delhi asked for three different types of sonobuoys and the approval covers all the three types.
The request was to buy AN/SSQ-53G High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare (HAASW) sonobuoys; AN/SSQ-62F HAASW sonobuoys; AN/SSQ-36 sonobuoys. The estimated cost was $ 52.8 million.
“The proposed sale will improve India’s capability to meet current and future threats by enhancing its capacity to conduct anti-submarine warfare operations from its MH-60R helicopters. India will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces,” the DSCA said, noting that it would not alter the basic military balance in the region.
Singh, who is on a four-day tour to the USA, also interacted with senior leadership of US defence companies including Boeing, General Electric, General Atomics, General Dynamics Land Systems, L3 Harris, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies, Rolls Royce, and ThayerMahan. The minister also had a meeting with the US National Security Advisor Jake Sulivan.