SINGAPORE — The US State Department announced on Monday a potential sale of new MHH-60R Seahawk helicopters and AH-64E Apache upgrades for South Korea’s military, with a potential price tag of $4.2 billion.
In addition, State approved a set of potential deals for India, covering sustainment for howitzers and Apaches that could total $428 million.
The potential Foreign Military Sales (FMS) cases were announced on the website of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. Such announcements do not represent final sales; Quantities and dollar totals often shift during negotiations, and the announcement tees up an opportunity for lawmakers to block the deal within a 30-day period, though such a step is rare.
The most significant of the announcements was the potential sale of 24 Lockheed Martin MH-60R Seahawk helicopters to South Korea for an estimated total cost of $3 billion. The proposed package also includes airborne low-frequency sonars, engines and self-protection systems.
The Republic of Korea Navy already operates the MH-60R, having ordered a first batch of 12 helicopters in 2020.
The US ally was also cleared for upgrades to its fleet of Boeing AH-64E Apache helicopter gunships, with a package that includes eight AN/APG-78 Longbow Fire Control Radar mast mounted assemblies and a similar number of Radar Electronic Units, as well as Manned-Unmanned Teaming capabilities.
South Korea’s army currently operates a fleet of 36 AH-64Es. It had been cleared to purchase another 36 helicopters in 2024 to replace its older AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters, although it reportedly decided not to go ahead with the acquisition last year.
As for India, the first package was a $230 million sustainment package for India’s BAE M777A2 ultralight howitzers for spare parts, repair, training and other support services while the other is a $198.2 million sustainment package for engineering and other support services for India’s AH-64Es.
India currently operates 28 of the attack helicopters, of which 22 are flown by its air force with the remainder belonging to the Indian Army.
