The Royal Australian Navy’s Sikorsky SH-60R (Romeo) Seahawk helicopters are set to be upgraded with an advanced magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) for detecting hostile submarines.
That enhancement is set to be rolled out across the Romeo fleet, eventually applying to all 36 aircraft, starting with the current 23 in-service aircraft.
Thirteen more aircraft are set to arrive including a replacement for one which ditched off the Philippines in 2021.
Cliff Kyle, general manager of Sikorsky Australia, said installation of the new digital MAD-XR was imminent.
“This one, being a digital version of the traditional MAD system is small and light. It is a particular technology that the US Navy, in partnership with the Royal Australian Navy, has been developing for a number of years,” he said.
“The Australian fleet will lead the worldwide fleet in deployment of the technology in the coming years. It is pretty exciting.”
Kyle said the new MAD was made by CAE Canada. Lockheed Martin, the parent of Sikorsky, partnered with CAE on development of the new MAD and its integration to Seahawk mission systems.
He said the RAN operated a Joint Program Office with the US Navy specific to Seahawk capability development.
“It is the first major modification that we have produced with that partnership,” he said.
“We receive software upgrades all of the time. That has been happening for nearly ten years now. This is the first collaboration in terms of a new hardware capability that the US Navy and RAN have developed.
“But this particular digital variant offers significant advancements in both reliability and capability.”
The RAN’s legacy S-70B-2 Seahawks, in service from the late 1980s until retired in 2017 featured a version of MAD. That weighed in around 40 kilograms, against under nine kilograms for the new unit.
A MAD senses changes in the Earth’s magnetic field caused by large sub-surface metallic objects such as submarines.
The MAD will complement other onboard systems including radar, dipping sonar and ability to deploy sonobuoys. Romeos can also be armed with Hellfire missiles.
In a ceremony at their maintenance and logistics facility at HMAS Albatross, Nowra, on Wednesday, Sikorsky Australia’s marked 10 years of supporting the RAN’s Romeo fleet.
That was officially opened in September 2016 by then Chief of Vice Admiral Tim Barrett, who attended this week, describing the Romeo as the best maritime warfare helicopter in the world.
The facility delivers scheduled depot level servicing, with aircraft dismantled, overhauled reassembled and returned to the Navy. This takes six months and happens every 42 months.
Kyle said the other major part of the business was 24/7 logistic support for the Nowra depot and all deployed flights aboard Navy ships.
That includes the Anzac-class frigates, DDGs, Canberra-class landing helicopter dock (LHD) ships and supply ships. Right now, that’s nine embarked flights, expanding to 14 as new ships enter service.
“Ten years ago, we started with less than a dozen employees designing the sustainment facility and building that capability from the ground up. Today, we employ more than 230 highly skilled people,” he said.
Since opening, the Sikorsky Australia team has completed 70 planned maintenance interval depot level servicings on the Navy’s fleet of Seahawks at Nowra, including the first depot maintenance activity on a US Navy Seahawk in-country.
To date, the Seahawk fleet has accumulated over 60,000 flying hours.