Wow, that means almost all the countries in this region using it
liao, if singas using it means it's an endorsment for sikorsky
liao. Mebbe can share share so getting parts easier also. But I
think is because the americans are using it on their ships so they
can share their codes with us.
The S-70B Seahawk naval helicopter is manufactured by Sikorsky
Aircraft in Stratford, Connecticut. The helicopter is a development
of the UH60A Black Hawk US Army Helicopter.
The Seahawk entered service in the US Navy in 1982. 230 Seahawk
helicopters are in service with the USN, carrying the designations
SH-60B, SH-60R, SH-60F and HH-60H, on US Navy Oliver Hardy Perry
class frigates, Arleigh Burke and Spruance class destroyers and
Ticonderoga class guided missile cruisers. The SH-60B is used as a
platform for the Light Airborne Multi-Purpose Subsystem (LAMPS)
Mark III mission system for anti-submarine (ASW) and anti-surface
warfare (ASUW). The Seahawk can travel up to 100 nautical miles
from the host ship and remain on station for several hours. The
helicopter carries out all weather surveillance, search and rescue,
missile targeting, anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare and
strike-warfare.
The S-70B family also includes the US Coast Guard HH-60J Jayhawk.
Export versions of the Seahawk are operational with the navies of
Australia (16), Greece (ten), Japan (70), Spain (12), Taiwan (20),
Thailand (six) and Turkey (20). The Spanish Navy has received six
new SH-60B equipped with LAMPS Mk III and six helicopters already
in service have been upgraded to LAMPS Mk III standard. The
helicopters are deployed on Santa Maria and Alvaro de Bazan (F100)
frigates.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) is building under licence a new
variant, the SH-60K, for the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force.
The JMSDF has ordered an initial seven for delivery from 2005. The
SH-60K will have a more powerful engine and upgraded avionics
compared to the SH-60J in service with the JMSDF and also
licence-built by Mitsubishi.
The Seahawk is flown by a crew of four: the pilot, co-pilot and the
sensor and weapons systems operators. The cockpit and cabin are
fitted with air conditioning, heating and ventilation.
NAVIGATION SUITE
The Seahawk's navigation suite includes the AN/APS-124 search radar
supplied by Raytheon (formerly Texas Instruments), AN/ARN-118(V)
Tacan supplied by Rockwell Collins, AN/APN-127 Doppler radar from
Teledyne Ryan, AN/ARA-50 UHF direction finding system from Rockwell
Collins and the AN/APR-194 (V) radar altimeter from
Honeywell.
ANTI-SUBMARINE WARFARE
The helicopter is equipped with a Sikorsky sonobuoy launcher on the
port side of the cabin, an ARR-84 receiver, an UYS-1 acoustic
processing unit and an ARN-146 on top position indicator which
indicates the position over a submerged submarine. The towed
magnetic anomaly detector is the AN/ASQ-81 (V)2 supplied by
Raytheon.
The helicopter carries two Mark 46 torpedoes or Mark 50 ALT
Advanced Lightweight Torpedoes from Honeywell.
ANTI-SHIP WARFARE
The Seahawk's anti-ship missile is the AGM-119B Penguin from
Kongsberg of Norway. The helicopter also carries the Hellfire
air-to-surface missile to engage fast attack craft and small, armed
ships. Target acquisition is carried out using the AAS-44 thermal
imaging unit with a laser designator.
COUNTERMEASURES
The helicopter carries the ALQ-142 electronic support measures
system. US Navy Seahawks have also been fitted with AN/ALQ-144
infrared jammers from BAE Systems Information & Electronic
Warfare Systems (formerly Sanders), AN/ALE-47 chaff and flare
dispensers from Lockheed Martin, AN/AAR-47 missile warners from ATK
and the AN/AAS-38 forward looking infrared from Lockheed
Martin.
ENGINES
The Seahawk is equipped with two General Electric T700-GE-401C
turboshaft engines developing 3,400 shaft horsepower. The
helicopter's internal fuel tanks hold 2,250 litres but an in-flight
refuelling system can be use in hover mode.
A Recovery Assist, Secure and Traversing system reels in the
helicopter and guides it to the deck. A Fairey Hydraulics Decklock
landing system with an extending two-stage actuator has been used
to land and secure the Seahawk to the deck in high sea states
without the assistance of the deck crew.
CARGO CAPACITY
The Seahawk is able to carry over 1,800kg of cargo internally. The
external cargo hook, rated to carry loads up to 2,725kg, is not
installed on all variants of Seahawk.
SH-60F CV HELO VARIANT
The SH-60F CV Helo variant of the Seahawk is equipped to carry out
the anti-submarine warfare role in the noisy inner zone of a
carrier battle group. It is equipped with the AQS-13F active
dipping sonar system supplied by L-3 Communications - Ocean
Systems, an ASN-150 cockpit management and tactical data processing
system. The SH-60F CV Helo does not carry the radar, electronic
support measures, magnetic anomaly detectors or air-to-surface
missiles which are necessary for open-water operations away from
the carrier group. It carries three Mark 50 torpedoes.
HH-60 VARIANT
The US Navy's aircraft carrier based strike rescue and special
warfare helicopter is the HH-60H. It is not equipped for
anti-surface ship or anti-submarine warfare. The HH-60H Seahawk can
carry four crew plus 8 troops. It is equipped with the ASN-150
cockpit management system and the ALQ-144 infrared jammer. The
weapons systems include GCAL-50 machine guns and Stinger, Maverick
and Hellfire missiles. The cockpit is night vision goggle
compatible.
The HH-60H has the capability to recover four crew of a downed
aircraft at ranges up to 465km.The aircraft can also fly 370km and
drop eight US Navy SEALS from an altitude of 915m.
