First MH-60R for Greece
On 10 December 2021 the first photos of a Diikissi Aeroporias Naftikou (Hellenic Navy Air Command) MH-60R Seahawk surfaced on the internet.
Serial PN75 is one of three Seahawks originally destined for the US Navy which were redirected in support of the Hellenic Navy Foreign Military Sales.
In July 2019, the US State Department approved the sale of a total of seven MH-60R helicopters to the Hellenic Navy, including spares, weapons, training, and support, for an estimated USD 600 million.
Of this seven helicopters, the procurement of the first four was initially announced by the US Department of Defence (DoD) on 26 October 2020, but apparently the need for new helicopters is high, resulting in the redirection of US Navy-bound Seahawks to Greece. In July 2021, the Naval Air Systems Command awarded Lockheed Martin a USD 129 million contract modification for the production and delivery of three MH-60R Seahawk helicopters to replenish the US Navy inventory.
The ordered MH-60Rs will replace the ageing and hardly operational AgustaBell 212ASW.
The MH-60R order package will give an enormous boost to the capabilities of the Hellenic Navy, carrying systems like AN/AAS-44C(V) Multi-Spectral Targeting Systems; Embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation Systems with Selective Availability/Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM); AN/AVS-9 night-vision goggles; and 1,000 AN/SSQ-36/53/62 sonobuoys. Weapons include 100 BAE Systems Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System (APKWS) guided-rockets; 30 Mk 54 torpedoes; as well as M240 and GAU-21 crew-served guns. Lockheed Martin AGM-114 M36-E9 Hellfire captive air-training missiles and AGM-114Q Hellfire training missiles have been requested, but the live-fire missiles have not.
The serial on the photo is a bit puzzling. The highest PN number is PN61, an S-70B Seahawk. PN75 would indicate a gap of 13 aircraft that are unaccounted for. Maybe PN75 is not the first in line but in any case, the seven Seahawks will not fill the gap all the way back to PN61. If you have more information on the serial range for the new Seahawks, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Photos by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation