Greece gets green light to buy seven MH-60R helos

The US State Department has cleared Greece to buy MH-60R multi-mission helicopters with support equipment under a deal estimated to be worth $600 million.

The US approval comes less than six months after the Greek government announced its intention to buy the MH-60R.

The Hellenic Navy is expected to buy up to seven helicopters equipped with APS-l 53(V) multi-mode radars, airborne low frequency systems, and AN/ AAS-44C(V) multi-spectral targeting systems.

Also included in the deal would be a thousand sonobuoys, AGM-114 M36-E9 CATM, AGM-114Q Hellfire training missiles, APKWS rockets, MK 54 torpedoes, M-2400 and GAU-21 crew served guns.

The State Department said the helicopters would bolster the Hellenic Navy’s ability to support NATO and remain interoperable with the US and the NATO alliance.

The MH-60R will provide the capability to perform anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare missions along with the ability to perform secondary missions including vertical replenishment, search and rescue, and communications relay.

The prime contractor would be Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems.