NEW DELHI: The United States govt has approved a proposed sale of 53 MK-54 lightweight torpedoes worth $175 million to India for the multi-mission MH-60R Seahawk helicopters being inducted by the Indian Navy.
The Biden administration‘s notification to the US Congress on Monday said the sale will support Washington’s foreign policy and national security objectives by helping to strengthen the bilateral strategic relationship and improving the security of major defence partner India, which “continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia regions”.
“The proposed sale will improve India’s capability to meet current and future threats by increasing the size of its anti-submarine weapons stockpile for its MH-60R helicopters,” it said.
The Navy in March had commissioned its first squadron of six submarine-hunting MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, armed with Hellfire missiles, MK-54 torpedoes, and precision-kill rockets, at INS Garuda in Kochi, as was then reported by TOI. By next year, India is slated to induct all the 24 heavy-duty Seahawks, which are also equipped with multi-mode radars and night-vision devices, under the Rs 15,157 crore ($2.13 billion) contract inked with the US in Feb 2020.
Navy officers say the induction of Seahawks, which operate from decks of aircraft carriers and other frontline warships, represents a “significant capability jump” in detecting and destroying enemy submarines prowling in the Indian Ocean Region.
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