John wrote:
Yea just stating that NSM is not done deal still some work left and still has to go thru another round of procurement with Kongsberg and considering MoD track record we won’t see these any time soon. If this turns into another tender add another 5 years.
FMS notifications are only a starting point of negotiations with the contractors, even for items that are listed as approved in the FMS case. There are almost always commercial components in any FMS deals that are either negotiated directly between the purchaser and the OEM or are not announced by the DSCA because the transaction is not handled by it. Think of commercial sales, offsets and extended PBL agreements that are not tied to delivery dates. For all we know, NSM talks could be as mature as the rest of the stuff or they could all be starting just now. Hopefully, the MOD doesn't drag its feet on these because there is really no plan B or an alternate suitable weapon that is as capable, or as easy and cheap to integrate into the platform from both a cost and risk perspective. Lockheed and Kongsberg have been more than willing to integrate the missile themselves and they have already done this on surface platforms so its going to be a fairly straightforward task given that some of the work has already been done..MH-60R plus NSM would add a very interesting dimension to the overall surface force's capability over and above the surface attack abilities of the vessels..This is something no current Romeo operator currently has..
More from a recent Jane's Article -
Kongsberg NSM to equip Indian MH-60R helicopters
he Indian Navy appears poised to become the first customer for the Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile (NSM) in a helicopter-launched application.
According to US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) documentation, the missile will be integrated into Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky MH-60R multimission helicopters that India is looking to acquire under a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) case.
NSM was originally developed by Kongsberg to meet the Royal Norwegian Navy’s requirements for a highly discriminative, low-observable surface-to-surface guided weapon able to penetrate shipboard defences and operate effectively in blue water and littoral environments. Capable of ranges up to 200 km, it combines GPS-aided midcourse guidance with an advanced dual-band imaging infrared seeker.
NSM has been sold for ship-launched and coastal battery applications. However, Kongsberg has for some time been positioning the same missile, which has been designed from the outset to be capable of air launch, as a natural successor to the helicopter-launched Mk 2 Mod 7 Penguin anti-ship missile on the S-70B/MH-60R family of helicopters.
A missile fit check with the MH-60R was completed in mid-2014 (the NSM mechanical interface would use the existing Penguin integration with one pylon-mounted missile carried on either beam). Kongsberg has been actively supporting MH-60R export sales campaigns.
A DSCA notification published on 2 April advised the State Department’s approval for an FMS sale of 24 MH-60R helicopters to India. The package includes two NSM emulators and four NSM captive inert training missiles (CATMs).
No operational NSM missiles are included in the FMS case. Jane’s understands that these would be supplied under a separate sales agreement.
As well as NSM emulators and CATMs, the DSCA notice also revealed plans to supply Indian MH-60Rs with Lockheed Martin AGM-114 missiles and BAE Systems’ Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System guided rockets. The Indian Navy had previously fielded the BAe Dynamics Sea Eagle anti-ship missile from its fleet of Sea King Mk42B helicopters. However, Sea Eagle was retired from service in the 2000s.
Kartik wrote:BTW, this is heartening news. The MH-60R is by far the most capable ship borne ASW helicopter out there and with upgrades available via the USN's roadmap, it should be supportable and upgradeable well into the future. One of the single most needed platforms for the Indian Navy, should be a game changer.
But surely just 24 isn't enough?
Yes this is an important point [ being able to tap into USN investment just like on the P-8] as this is one of the most important helicopter programs for the USN and many other navies around the world. One of the most important capability enhancements to the aircraft, since it first flew, is going to be the AN/ALQ-248 Advanced Off-Board Electronic Warfare system, and particularly its Active Mission Payload which should fly by the end of this year and be ready for operational service in the near term. It is one of the 3 identified US Navy Electronic Warfare priorities for ship protection against advanced anti-ship missile threats.
From a recent Journal of Electronic Defense (JED) article -
The AMP program stems from the identified requirement - originally characterized as the AOEW Decoy Development Effort (DDE) - for a ship-launched, long-duration, active electronic off- board decoy system integrated onto an existing flight vehicle, and used in coordination with the AN/SLQ-32(V)6/7 shipborne EW system.
Although the AOEW DDE had originally considered the use of an unmanned air vehicle, NAV- SEA revealed in April 2014 that the AMP pod would be hosted by, and integrated onto, the MH-60R and MH-60S multimission helicopters. The AN/ALQ-248 will be able to engage threats in both self-contained and coordinated modes. In the former case, the pod will use its own receiver system to detect, identify and track threat emitters, and then activate the advanced EA subsystem to generate and transmit the appropriate RF jamming techniques. In the coordinated mode, a shipborne AN/SLQ-32 system will detect incoming anti-ship missile threats, then cue and control the helicopter-borne AMP (via Link 16) using its Soft-Kill Coordination System (SKCS) function; AMP EA effects will be coordinated by SLQ-32/SKCS in conjunction with other soft-kill RF countermeasures during the engagement.
While the US Navy will not discuss specifics of EA techniques and tactics, PEO IWS has confirmed that AOEW AMP will provide both point defense and area defense capabilities in support of fleet operations. "AOEW is putting a very capable podded electronic surveillance and electronic attack capability onto the MH-60 platform," said Joe Ottaviano, Lockheed Martin's director of electronic warfare. "It is the first long-duration offboard active module decoy [and] it extends the reach of the naval enterprise electronic warfare system beyond just the electronic horizon of the ship.