NEW DELHI, July 17: The United States has handed over to the Indian Navy the first two of the 24 MH-60R multi-role helicopters boosting its combat capabilities.
Officials said the Navy received the choppers from the US Navy in a ceremony held at a naval air station in San Diego on Friday.
“The ceremony marked the formal transfer of these helicopters from US Navy to Indian Navy, which were accepted by Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Indian Ambassador to the US,” a spokesperson of the Indian Navy said.
MH-60R helicopters manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corporation is an all-weather helicopter designed to support multiple missions with state of the art avionics and sensors.
India is procuring 24 of these helicopters from the US government under the framework of foreign military sales. The helicopters would also be modified with several India-unique equipment and weapons.
“The induction of these helicopters would further enhance the Indian Navy’s three dimensional capabilities,” the spokesperson said. “In order to exploit these potent helicopters, the first batch of Indian crew is presently undergoing training in the US,” he said.
(Manas Dasgupta)
