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Home» News»US Navy launched effort for MH-60R/S and MQ-8B/C replacement
A pair of US Navy Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawks, NE 712 166556 and NE 700 166541 of HSM-77 'Sabrehawks', cruise over the Pacific Ocean (Lockheed Martin picture)

US Navy launched effort for MH-60R/S and MQ-8B/C replacement

The US Department of Defense began an effort to replace the US Navy’s MH-60S/R Seahawk helicopters and MQ-8B/C Fire Scout UAVs.

Nathan Gain 01 Feb 2021

The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) issued a « Future Vertical Lift (Maritime Strike) Analysis of Alternatives RFI » (Request for Information) on January 28. NAVAIR seeks at obtaining industry input relative to its capabilities to potentially satisfy the needs identified.

« The Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV N98) has directed an Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) be conducted to support efforts to identify cost-effective alternatives to fill capability gaps in the MH-60R/S and MQ-8C as they begin to reach their end of service in the 2030s, » the document says.

OPNAV N98 identified a requirement to assess potential solutions for capability gaps due to the increasingly sophisticated adversary as well as capacity gaps incurred with aging and expected retirement of the aforementioned platforms.

The FVL (MS) capability is expected to reach an Initial Operational Capability (IOC) in the mid-twenty thirty’s timeframe to support a wide range US Navy missions.

Mission scenarios mentioned in the RFI includes i.e. Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Targeting (ISR&T), Surface Warfare (SUW), Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), SOF Support, C2, Logistics and Mine Counter Measures (MCM).

Likely contenders for Future Vertical Lift (Maritime Strike)

  • SB>1 Defiant, Sikorsky–Boeing’s early design for the US Army FLRAA program (Sikorsky/Boeing picture)
  • Bell’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor aircraft (Bell picture)

Two platforms currently competing for the U.S. Army’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA, as part for the FVL – Future Vertical Lift program) could be natural contenders: Bell’s V-280 Valor advanced tiltrotor and the Sikorsky-Boeing Defiant X are competing for FLRAA which calls for the replacement of the UH-60 Back Hawk.

Future Vertical Lift Helicopter MH-60R MQ-8C US Navy 2021-02-01
Tags Future Vertical Lift Helicopter MH-60R MQ-8C US Navy
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Authors

Posted by : Nathan Gain
Nathan is based in Namur, Belgium. He holds an MA in modern history with a minor in international relations from the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL – Belgium). Fascinated by military history he naturally turned to the defense sector after graduating and is particularly interested in Northern European and Belgian defense issues as well as in anything related to naval aviation.

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