Plans to modernise the American and Australian Sikorsky MH-60 Seahawk fleets via its joint TALON programme are moving forward.
The U.S. Navy programme, jointly undertaken with the Royal Australian Navy, will overhaul the helicopter’s avionics and mission systems to extend its operational service life into the 2050s.
The U.S. Navy operates an active fleet of up to 526 MH-60 helicopters (both Romeo and Sierra variants) while the Royal Australian Navy has 23 MH-60Rs, with ongoing deliveries set to expand the fleet to 36 total aircraft.
The Tailorable Architecture Leveraging Open-systems (TALON) initiative will adopt a Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) allowing plug-and-play new technologies to be easily integrated into the airframe.
The same open architecture will also be transferable into the upcoming U.S. Navy Future Vertical Lift Maritime Strike programme, as per a press statement.
Industry partners picked for the first phase of the collaboration, formally dubbed a Statement of Work (SOW), have now been selected.
Sierra Nevada Corp. will design the physical and structural integration for the MH-60S (Sierra) variant, used for performing anti-surface warfare (ASuW), combat search and rescue (SAR), special warfare support and airborne mine countermeasures (MCM).
Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems (LM RMS) will take on the same role for the MH-60R (Romeo), which specializes in anti-submarine warfare (ASW), surface warfare, electronic warfare (EW), and command and control (C2).
Rockwell Collins Inc. and LM RMS will together lead hardware and software architecture design, interface management, and system-level software integration. And Technology Security Associates Inc. will supply additional support to the government in assessing integrations.
The U.S. Navy statement said any future formal contracts and/or agreements would depend upon successful negotiation and finalization of the Phase 1 SOWs.
- You can read more details on the U.S. Navy website
