July 26, 2022 —
The first new hull for the MH-60T helicopter fleet is expected to be delivered in April 2023. The new hulls will be delivered in sections for future assembly and installation of dynamic components at the Coast Guard Aviation Logistics Center in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. U.S. Coast Guard illustration.
The Coast Guard ordered 11 additional new MH-60T hulls from Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation of Stratford, Connecticut, July 14 to support the service’s ongoing Service Life Extension Program on its original fleet of 45 MH-60Ts.
With this action, valued at nearly $75 million, the Coast Guard has ordered a total of 42 new hulls. The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract was awarded in January 2021 and included an initial order of 25 hulls. With the latest order, combined with other prior orders, the total value obligated against the IDIQ contract is almost $323 million.
Delivery of the first new hull is anticipated in mid-2023, with subsequent hulls scheduled for delivery at a pace of approximately one per month starting in late 2023.
The Coast Guard’s MH-60T helicopters, which have been in service since 1990, are reaching the end of their service life. This order provides new MH-60T hulls with 20,000 hours of service life to support the Coast Guard’s 11 statutory missions, including drug interdiction, environmental protection and search and rescue.
Hull replacement is just one component of the MH-60T sustainment effort. In addition, some critical dynamic components such as main rotor blades and electrical wire harnesses will also be replaced. Aircraft production – the assembly and installation of dynamic components on the hulls – will be completed at the Coast Guard Aviation Logistics Center in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
For more information: MH-60T Sustainment Program page