N48 - Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk

RAN N48 Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk

The Australian Government announced the approval of the acquisition of 24 MH-60R Seahawk Romeo naval combat helicopters at a cost of over $3 billion on 16 June 2011.

At the same time, Defence signed a Letter of Agreement for the acquisition with the United States Government and the first two helicopters are due to arrive in mid-2014 for testing and evaluation. Operations are expected to commence in mid-2015.

The new helicopters will replace the Navy s combat helicopter capability provided by 16 Seahawk S-70B-2 helicopters and will also provide the air to surface strike capability which was to have been provided by the cancelled Super Seasprite program. This follows a 15-month competitive acquisition process involving the Sikorsky-Lockheed Martin built MH-60R and the NATO Helicopter Industries NH90 NFH assembled by Australian Aerospace.

The helicopters are largely military off-the-shelf built by Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin and will be purchased through the Foreign Military Sales process from the US Navy.

Acquisition of 24 Romeos under Project AIR 9000 Phase 8 is intended to give the RAN the capacity to provide at least eight warships with a combat helicopter at the same time, including Anzac Class Frigates and the new Hobart Class Air Warfare Destroyers.

The remainder will be based at Albatross in Nowra, New South Wales, and will be in various stages of the regular maintenance and training cycle.

The MH-60R will be equipped with combat systems designed to employ Hellfire air-to-surface missile and the Mark 54 anti-submarine torpedo.

The first two MH-60R helicopters were formally accepted into service by NUSQN725 at Jacksonville in Florida on January 24.

ADF.Serial	Code	Production Number	Lot Number	Bu Number	History
N48-001	901	1	10	168814	26/06/2013. Initial test flight at Sikorsky's production facility in Stratford, Connecticut, USA. The helicopter successfully passed a range of tests during the 1 hour and 20 minute sortie including controllability, engine performance, vibration analysis and navigation. A second sortie later that day completed the 'Contractor Flight Acceptance' phase. The helicopter was then fitted with its mission systems and sensors at Lockheed Martin's facility in Owego, New York. 10/12/2013 Delivered. 24/01/2014 Accepted into service by NUSQN725 at Jacksonville in Florida 27/04/2015 at 725 Sq Nowra..
N48-002	902	2	10	168815	10/12/2013 Delivered. 24/01/2014 Accepted into service by NUSQN725 at Jacksonville in Florida. Launched Hellfire Missle Noted at Nowra 22/08/17 as Gauntlet 02 of 725 Sqn.
N48-003	903	3	10	168816	24/02/2014 Flown and delivered to be equipped with Radar/electronics etc As Gauntlet 03 of NUSQN 725 it became the first Australian MH-60R to fire a Mk.54 torpedo. First MH-60R to be embarked. xx/02/2015 Embarked HMAS Perth.
N48-004	904	4	10	168817	24/02/2014 Flown and delivered to be equipped with Radar/electronics etc Noted as Gauntlet 04 with 725 Sqn at Nowra.
N48-005	905	5	11	168818	Delivered 12/2014 Noted as Gauntlet 05 with 725 Sqn at Nowra. On Static Display at Avalon 2015. Flying display at Avalon 2017 as Tiger 05 of 816 Sqn.
N48-006	906	6	11	168819	Delivered 12/2014 Noted as Gauntlet 06 with 725 Sqn at Nowra.
N48-007	907	7	11	168820	Delivered 12/2014 Noted as Gauntlet 07 with 725 Sqn at Nowra.
N48-008	908	8	11	168821	Delivered 12/2014 Noted as Gauntlet 08 with 725 Sqn at Nowra. Participant in Exercise Joint Warrior 2018 in UK
N48-009	909	9	11	168822	Delivered 03/2015 Noted as Gauntlet 09 with 725 Sqn at Nowra. Flying Display at Wings Over Illawarra 2017 as Tiger 09 of 816 Sqn.
N48-010	910	10	11	168823	Delivered 03/2015
N48-011	911	11	11	168824	Delivered 03/2015 Noted as Gauntlet 11 with 725 Sqn at Nowra.
N48-012	912	12	11	168825	Delivered 06/2015 Noted at Canberra 11/07/17 as Gauntlet 12 of 725 Sqn. Noted at Nowra 22/08/17 as Gauntlet 12 of 725 Sqn.
N48-013	913	13	11	168826	Delivered 06/2015 Noted as Gauntlet 13 with 725 Sqn at Nowra on 16/09/16.
N48-014	914	14	12	168827	Delivered 09/2015 Noted as Gauntlet 14 with 725 Sqn at Nowra.
N48-015	915	15	12	168828	Delivered 12/2015 Noted in Darwin 06/17.
N48-016	916	16	12	168829	Delivered 12/2015
N48-017	917	17	12	168830	Delivered 03/2016
N48-018	918	18	12	168831	Delivered 03/2016
N48-019	919	19	12	168832	Delivered 03/2016 Noted at HMAS Watson 13/12/16. Noted at Nowra as Gauntlet 19 of 725 Sqn 30/08/17.
N48-020	920	20	12	168833	Delivered 06/2016 Noted as Gauntlet 20 with 725 Sqn at Nowra. Deployed on HMAS Ballarat 06/04/17. Noted at Canberra 02/08/17 as in Service 816 Sqn RAN as Tiger 20. On 09/10/2017 N48-20 was aboard HMAS Warramunga when it broke away from its lashings during a rough passage across the Great Australian Bight en-route to the Middle East. There was a replacement helicopter placed aboard HMAS Warramunga so that it could continue its mission. Noted repaired and flying at the RAAF Edinburgh Airshow 10/11/2019
N48-021	921	21	12	168834	Delivered 06/2016
N48-022	922	22	12	168835	Delivered 06/2016 Noted at Canberra 29/08/17 as in Service 816 Sqn RAN as Tiger 22.
N48-023	923	23	13	168836	Delivered 09/2016 Noted as Gauntlet 23 with 725 Sqn at Nowra.
N48-024	924	24	13	168837	Loaded aboard an RAAF C-17A and departed the US for Australia 30/08/16. The final MH-60R was handed over to the RAN in a ceremony at Nowra on 12/09/2016 The ceremony included the opening of the new Maritime Helicopter Support Company (MHSCo) Participant in Exercise Joint Warrior 2018 in UK Named "Warlock"
N48-032	N/A	N/A	N/A	166402 (162098)	Built as SH-60B 162098, (C/N 70-0388), 1st of 7 SH-60B's rebuilt to MH-60R "Bromeo" standard, New serial 166402 after conversion, 05/08/2005 First flight as MH-60R (and first ever MH-60 flight), To Helicopter Marine Strike Squadron Four One as TS-400 at NAS North Island, CA, 09/08/2010 Retired to AMARC with inventory code ANIM0015, 17/01/2014 Road freighted to Fleet readiness Centre Southeast (FRCSE) at NAS Jacksonville, Florida for conversion to Instructional Airframe, Delivered 03/2015 to HMAS Albatross, Nowra for use as Bromeo Maintenance Trainer Aircraft. Provides training for: Repair & inspection of mechanical components. Flight servicing inspections and replenishment
N48-033	N/A	N/A	N/A	166403 (162096) 166408?	Built as SH-60B 162096, (C/N 70-0386) 1985 HSL-42 Det 2 first deployment USS Doyle (FFG-39) 2003 withdrawn from use, to Sikorsky for conversion to SH-60R New serial 166403 after conversion Photo shows 166408 painted on aircraft? To Helicopter Marine Strike Squadron Four One as TS-403 5/04/2011 Stricken from USN Modified by CAE (USA) for RAN training Delivered 02/2017 to HMAS Albatross, Nowra for use as Composite Maintenance Trainer Provides fault diagnosis of mechanical, hydraulic and avionic systems
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Aircraft Maintenance Weapons Loading Trainer Built by CAE (USA) for RAN training Delivered 03/2015 Provides repair & inspection of avionics components. Fault diagnosis of avionic systems
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Rear Cabin Trainer Built by Virtual Simulation Systems(Australia) Delivered 10/2016 Provides training for cabin gunnery using GAU-21 and MAG 58 as well as hoist / load operations
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Flight Trainer (Seahawk Simulator and Warfare Centre) Completely integrated MH-60R training system 725 SQN, 816 SQN, training and support systems housed in the same complex Uniformed training supplemented with contracted: Simulator maintenance Instruction(pilot, AvWO, aircrewman) Simulator operator assistance 2x Tactical Operational Flight Trainers Only MH-60R OFTs certified to FAA Part 60 Level D standard 2x Weapons Tactical Trainers Built by CAE (USA) Delivery Dates:TOFT #1 03/ 2015 TOFT #2 10/2017
???	???	???	???	???	Another as yet unidentified ex-USN Bromeo has been imported as a fatigue test airframe. We are seeking more details on this one.

The Author of this page is Brendan Cowan (updated by Martin Edwards)

Sources: Defence Media Centre, navy.gov.au , helis.com , Navy News , Fleet Air Arm Assosition of Australia, Airforces Monthly Issue #317 August 2014, South Coast Register

Emails: LTCDR Todd Glynn, Martin Edwards, Messageboard Discussion , Brendan Cowan, Gordon Birkett, Steve Swayne.

Converted to CMS 15th September 2025

Updated 15th November 2019