US Navy looking for MH-60R and MQ-8 replacement

[RavenOne]

The hunt is in for replacement of both the Sikorsky MH-60R and N-G Firescout for mid 2030S onwards

The Navy Has Begun To Hunt For Its MH-60 Seahawk Helicopter And Fire Scout Drone Replacements

The U.S. Navy is looking toward next-generation vertical-lift platforms to replace existing types starting in 2030.

www.thedrive.com

cheera

 

[yasotay]

Initially it is being touted as the FVL Cap Set 2 air vehicle. This is being done, I believe, to announce that the Navy wants more than a MH-60Z. Which, after the requirements people and the engineers haggle for a couple years, is exactly what they will get because there just is not a lot of room in the helo deck for more substantial rotorcraft. I think first and foremost they will want something that can efficiently hover for extended periods.
I would be very happy to be proven wrong.

 

[Grey Havoc]

Five Missing After Navy Helicopter Crashes Near San Diego

One person was rescued from a helicopter after it crashed into the sea, the Navy said.

www.nytimes.com

Search efforts were ongoing early Wednesday, according to the Navy.

Military officials identified the helicopter that crashed as an MH-60S, a model that has been in use since 2002, according to the Naval Air Systems Command.

The helicopter had been assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier based in San Diego. In a statement on Facebook on Wednesday, Lincoln officials called the crash a “tragedy.”

Hopefully the missing crew members will be found alive.

Equally hopefully, that this is not a sign that the ongoing maintenance crisis is getting even worse.

 

[Grey Havoc]

Old SPF thread on the last attempt to replace the Seahawk:

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/maritime-helicopter-mh-xx.19966/

 

[Scott Kenny]

Initially it is being touted as the FVL Cap Set 2 air vehicle. This is being done, I believe, to announce that the Navy wants more than a MH-60Z. Which, after the requirements people and the engineers haggle for a couple years, is exactly what they will get because there just is not a lot of room in the helo deck for more substantial rotorcraft. I think first and foremost they will want something that can efficiently hover for extended periods.
I would be very happy to be proven wrong.

I'll bet you a good steak dinner (I can buy wagyu beef at my local supermarket!) that the Navy is going to end up getting an H-60 with ITEP T901 engines in it. And maybe a 5 bladed rotor to help put that power into the air, but that's a long shot.

There's not really anything else that would fit into the hangars that is in production.