New Zealand seeks to introduce 'Seahawk', America's latest maritime helicopter to catch submarines

(Jakarta = Yonhap News) Correspondent Hyeon-gyu Son = New Zealand is pursuing a plan to introduce five state-of-the-art maritime operation helicopters that can detect and attack submarines and surface ships from the United States.

According to the Russian state-run Ria Novosti news agency on the 26th (local time), New Zealand's Ministry of Defense announced that it had recently signed an agreement with the U.S. government to purchase the MH-60R 'Seahawk', the latest maritime operation helicopter from U.S. defense company Lockheed Martin.

New Zealand's Ministry of Defense explained, "This agreement includes the purchase of spare parts, weapons and equipment, including (MH-60R Seahawk) helicopters to be delivered from 2030."

The maximum weight of the MH-60R Seahawk is 10.2 tons, with a length of 16.18 m, a width of 4.37 m, and a height of 5.18 m. The maximum speed can be up to 180 knots (about 333 km per hour) and the flight distance is 963 km.

Anti-submarine operations are performed using variable depth sonar (dipping sonar) and acoustic detection buoys (sonobuoys) that detect or identify and track submarine signals.

It can also operate the Hellfire anti-ship guided missile, which can precisely hit maritime targets, and the Mk-54 light torpedo for attacking underwater submarines.

For this reason, the South Korean military recently decided last month to introduce 20 additional helicopters by 2032 to prepare for North Korean submarines and surface ships.

The MH-60R Seahawk is designed to perform a variety of missions, including surveillance and reconnaissance, search and rescue, transportation, and support for maritime counter-terrorism operations, as well as combat against submarines and surface ships.

New Zealand's Ministry of Defense announced that the introduction of the MH-60R Seahawk will enable joint operations with the armed forces of several countries, including Australia.

Additionally, its excellent speed and long range are expected to play a significant role in combat operations or defense after detecting a target.

New Zealand's Ministry of Defense announced, "The total cost of this project is 1.648 billion New Zealand dollars (about 1.24 trillion won), and we plan to allocate an annual average of 110 million New Zealand dollars (about 83 billion won) for operating expenses over the next 10 years."

New Zealand is a member of the Five Eyes, an English-speaking intelligence alliance, along with the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.

The intelligence agencies of the five countries participating in this alliance have been sharing sensitive and confidential information, including diplomatic, security, and national defense, for decades.