SH-60 Seahawk

The Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk is a twin-engine anti-submarine warfare helicopter, based on the airframe of the UH-60 Black Hawk. It is used for anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue, drug interdiction, anti-ship warfare, cargo lift, and special operations.

The 'SH-60B'\ is used by the US Navy, the Royal Australian Navy and the naval forces of Japan and Spain as an airborne platform based aboard cruisers, destroyers, and frigates. It carries an APS-124 search radar under the nose, a 25 round sonobouy (sonic detector) dispenser on the port fuselage, and a towed magnetic anomaly detector (MAD), and is armed with Penguin anti-ship missiles and torpedoes.

The SH-60F is a carrier-based variant, developed for the US Navy to replace the SH-3 Sea King and provide close in anti-submarine security for carrier battle groups. It has no search radar, but is instead equipped with dunking sonar, FLIR, and ESM. It serves with the US Navy, and in a different version known as the S-70C with Taiwan. Greece operates a fleet of hybrid SH-60B/F Seahawks.

Also in service with the USN is the HH-60H 'Rescue Hawk', which is armed with a minigun and tasked with insertion of special forces and rescue of downed aircrew. All US Navy SH-60B and SH-60F Seahawks are being converted to a common standard known as the SG-60R, which includes dipping sonar and APS-147 radar.

See also:

• UH-60 Black Hawk
• Black Hawk Down