[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence video] Leading Candidate for Maritime Operation Helicopter

[Asia Economy Military Specialist Yang Nak-gyu] The Navy's second phase of the maritime operation helicopter project will proceed within this year. In March 2019, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration's Defense Project Promotion Committee decided to import the candidate models from overseas through a competitive bidding process, and a project briefing was held in May last year. At that time, Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the MH-60R helicopter, and Leonardo, the manufacturer of the AW-159 which the Navy introduced 8 units of in the first phase, submitted proposals. Price and technical negotiations for the procurement project continued until May, but the planned on-site test evaluation has been delayed due to the COVID-19 situation.

Currently, the Naval Aviation Unit operates a total of 23 units combining the Lynx introduced in 1990 and the Super Lynx introduced in 2000, and has deployed 8 AW-159 units introduced in the first phase of the maritime operation helicopter project in 2016. The second phase of the maritime operation helicopter project is being conducted to replace the aging Lynx introduced in 1990, which is facing difficulties in follow-up logistics support. The Lynx helicopter is scheduled to begin retirement starting in 2026.

Recently, the Greek government confirmed the purchase of the MH-60R Seahawk. The budget scale is known to be approximately $193 million, and with this procurement, Greece became the sixth country operating the MH-60R following the United States, Denmark, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and India.

Globally, more than 320 MH-60R maritime operation helicopters are performing various missions in navies and air forces worldwide. Since the U.S. Navy first deployed the MH-60R in 2006, it has been utilized for various missions such as enemy submarine detection, maritime rescue, and underwater threat elimination, expanding its operational fleet to 289 units.