The U.S. State Department has cleared a potential $800 million Foreign Military Sale (FMS) of 12 Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk multimission helicopters intended for the Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy. The required certification notice of the possible government-to-government sale to South Korea was delivered by the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) to Congress on August 7, 2019.
The sales proposal includes the 12 helicopters, plus associated engines, multimode radars, sonar and targeting systems, sonobouys, communications equipment, and training and support.
The proposed sale represents one of several options for South Korea as it seeks to add anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare capability and capacity to the ROK Navy.
State Department approves possible Foreign Military Sale to South Korea of 12 MH-60R ASW helicopters. As usual, notification does not mean sale has been concluded. Similar approval a few years back ended with S Korea opting for 8 AW159 Wildcats https://t.co/kl9XbHPAwO pic.twitter.com/MbDAYpVI3n
— Mike Yeo 杨启铭 (@TheBaseLeg) August 8, 2019
Back in January 2017, the country’s military procurement arm, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), announced that it planned to procure 12 more maritime ASW helicopters to complement an earlier 2012 purchase of eight AgustaWestland (now Leonardo) AW159 Lynx Wildcats.
Requests for Proposals were issued in May 2018. Potential solutions at the time included additional Leonardo AW159 Lynx Wildcats, the MH-60Rs, and the NH Industries NH90. However, after Sikorsky and NH Industries failed to submit proposals by the November 14 deadline, the winner appeared to be the Lynx Wildcat by default. Shortly after the deadline, a letter of price and availability was sent to DAPA regarding the MH-60R by the U.S. government, prompting Seoul to reconsider running the program.
South Korea opted to relaunch the acquisition effort – referred to as the Maritime Operational Helicopters (MOHs) Batch 2 requirement – in May.
This second-batch order of MOHs tailored for ASW missions will bring the total number procured by South Korea up to 20, thus meeting an ROK Navy requirement outlined in 2007.
South Korea’s goal is to bring the new helicopters into service between 2020 and 2022 for deployment on the ROK Navy’s next-generation FFX-II frigates, currently in various stages of production and operational service.
Dan Darling is Forecast International’s director of military and defense markets. In this role, Dan oversees a team of analysts tasked with covering everything from budgeting to weapons systems to defense electronics and military aerospace. Additionally, for over 17 years Dan has, at various times, authored the International Military Markets reports for Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.
Dan's work has been cited in Defense News, Real Clear Defense, Asian Military Review, Al Jazeera, and Financial Express, among others, and he has also contributed commentary to The Diplomat, The National Interest and World Politics Review. He has been quoted in Arabian Business, the Financial Times, Flight International, The New York Times, Bloomberg and National Defense Magazine.
In addition, Dan has made guest appearances on the online radio show Midrats and on The Media Line, as well as The Red Line Podcast, plus media appearances on France 24 and World Is One News (WION).
