Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF) Aviation
The U.S.Navy suspended flight training for 300 Saudi Arabian military aviation students at Florida naval bases in the wake of a deadly shooting last week in the city of Pensacola. Three sailors were killed 06 December 2019 by Saudi national Mohammed Alshamrani, a second lieutenant in the Royal Saudi Air Force who was a student naval flight officer at Naval Aviation Schools Command. The gunman also injured eight others before being shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy.
The Saudi student who fatally shot three people at a U.S. naval base in Florida hosted a dinner party earlier in the week where he and three others watched videos of mass shootings. One of the three students who attended the dinner party videotaped outside the building while the shooting was taking place. Two other Saudi students watched from a car. At least 10 Saudi students were being held on the base while several others were unaccounted for.
Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF) students complete an overall pipeline of training to prepare them for flight operations in the MH-60R multi-mission helicopter, which provides the capability to identify, engage, and defeat maritime security threats along with the ability to perform secondary missions including vertical replenishment, search and rescue, and communications relay. Before pursuing their naval aviation training, the students completed intensive English language immersion programs at U.S. universities as part of their training roadmap. Then, they reported to Naval Air Station Pensacola to go through the same student naval aviator or aircrew training that their U.S. Navy counterparts experience. They concluded their training with HSM-40, the MH-60R fleet replacement squadron, at Naval Station Mayport, where their operational flight training consisted of ground, simulator and flight events, administered by a cadre of fleet-seasoned pilot and aircrew instructors.
Saudi Arabia first expressed interest in buying six Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft in April 2010, at an estimated cost of $1.3 billion. The aircraft were to have formed part of the wider naval modernisation programe, and were to have been delivered alongside Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, and Northrop Grumman Fire Scout unmanned helicopters.
A deal for between four and six P-8A maritime patrol aircraft was reportedly signed during a visit to Saudi Arabia by Donald Trump, and his Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson. The Saudi P-8A procurement – Boeing declined to give details of numbers or contract value – forms just one part of a massive naval fleet replacement programme that the kingdom has been pursuing since 2008. Boeing took its Next-Generation 737-800 and adapted it for the United States Navy and the Indian Navy. The United States Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force currently fly the P-8A Poseidon variant; the Indian Navy flies the P-8I variant. The United Kingdom and Norway have also selected the P-8A as their future maritime patrol aircraft.
May 20, 2015 the State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for MH-60R Multi-Mission Helicopters and associated equipment, parts and logistical support for an estimated cost of $1.9 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale.
The Government of Saudi Arabia has requested a sale of ten (10) MH-60R multi-mission helicopters fourteen (14) APS-153(V) Multi-Mode radars (10 installed, 2 spares and 2 for testing); twenty-four T-700 GE 401 C engines (20 installed and 4 spares); twelve (12) APX-123 Identification Friend or Foe transponders (10 installed and 2 spares); fourteen (14) AN/AAS-44C(V) Multi-Spectral Targeting Systems Forward Looking Infrared Radars (10 installed, 2 spares, and 2 for testing); twenty-six (26) Embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation Systems with Selective Availability/Anti-Spoofing Module (20 installed and 6 spares); and Link-16 capability; one-thousand (1,000) AN/SSQ-36/53/62 Sonobuoys; thirty-eight (38) AGM-114R Hellfire II missiles; five (5) AGM-114 M36-E9 Captive Air Training missiles; four (4) AGM-114Q Hellfire Training Missiles; three-hundred eighty (380) Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System rockets; twelve (12) M-240D crew served weapons; and twelve (12) GAU-21 crew served weapons. Also included are spare engine containers; facilities study and design; spare and repair parts; support and test equipment; communication equipment; aerial refueling services; ferry support; publications and technical documentation; personnel training and training equipment; U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical and logistics support services; and other related elements of logistical and program support. The estimated cost is $1.9 billion.
This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a strategic regional partner, which has been, and continues to be, an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East.
The proposed sale will improve Saudi Arabia’s capability to meet current and future threats from enemy weapon systems. The MH-60R Multi-Mission Helicopter will provide the capability to identify, engage, and defeat maritime security threats along with the ability to perform secondary missions including vertical replenishment, search and rescue, and communications relay. Saudi Arabia will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense.
On 13 September 2019, Sikorsky delivered the first MH-60R Seahawk maritime helicopter for the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF) during a ceremony in Owego, New York. The Seahawk is the navalised version of the S-70 family. Procurement of the Seahawk was launched in 2013, and a $1.9 billion intergovernmental foreign military sales (FMS) agreement for the purchase of 10 MH-60R helicopters was signed at the end of 2015. The contract stipulated that the first helicopter would be delivered by October 31, 2018. The new helicopter was required to equip the four multi-mission surface combatant (MMSC) ships ordered for the Saudi Eastern Fleet. These vessels are based on the US Navy’s Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) design.
The new Seahawks will join an existing rotary-winged fleet that includes 12 Airbus Helicopters AS 532SC Cougars, 15 Airbus Helicopters AS365F Dauphins, and six Airbus Helicopters AS565MB Panthers.
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