Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk

The Sikorsky SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk is a United States Navy helicopter that has two engines and can be employed on numerous different missions. It is derived from the United States Army's UH-60 Black Hawk. Both helicopters belong to the Sikorsky S-70 family. The Seahawk has certain unique modifications to accommodate it onto aircraft carriers. Its primary rotor blades fold, and its tail folds, so it is smaller for storage.^[2][3]

The U.S. Navy has flown several versions of the H-60 helicopter under the designations SH-60B, SH-60F, HH-60H, MH-60R, and MH-60S. Built for deployment on a variety of air-capable ships—such as frigates, destroyers, cruisers, fast combat support ships, expeditionary transfer docks, amphibious assault ships, littoral combat ships, and aircraft carriers—the Seahawk performs several functions, including anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASUW), naval special warfare (NSW) insertion, search and rescue (SAR), combat search and rescue (CSAR), vertical replenishment (VERTREP), and medical evacuation (MEDEVAC).^[4][5]

Because of its size, the SH-60 was too big for some of the Navy's smaller ships initially, and it operated in tandem with the Kaman SH-2F and SH-2G until 2001. The early models of the Seahawk started being retired in the 2010s and 2020s, with the SH-60B retiring in 2015 after over three decades of service, followed by the SH-60F and HH-60H in 2016. These were replaced by the upgraded MH-60R and MH-60S models.^[5][3]