In sfarsit Penguin-ul e inlocuit in practica de succesorul sau desemnat, desi pentru un client surpriza.
Ingropate adanc in lista de munitii aprobate la pachet cu cele 24 de elicoptere MH-60R destinate Indiei, abia se pot distinge:
The Government of India has requested to buy twenty-four (24) MH-60R Multi-Mission helicopters, equipped with the following: thirty (30) APS-153(V) Multi-Mode radars (24 installed, 6 spares); sixty (60) T700-GE-401C engines (48 installed and 12 spares); twenty-four (24) Airborne Low Frequency System (ALFS) (20 installed, 4 spares); thirty (30) AN/AAS-44C(V) Multi-Spectral Targeting System (24 installed, 6 spares);
fifty-four (54) Embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation Systems (EGI) with Selective Availability/Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM) (48 installed, 6 spares); one thousand (1,000) AN/SSQ-36/53/62 sonobuoys; ten (10) AGM-114 Hellfire missiles; five (5) AGM-114 M36-E9 Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM); four (4) AGM-114Q Hellfire Training missiles; thirty-eight (38) Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System (APKWS) rockets; thirty (30) MK 54 torpedoes; twelve (12) M-240D Crew Served guns; twelve (12) GAU-21 Crew Served guns; two (2) Naval Strike Missile Emulators; four (4) Naval Strike Missile Captive Inert Training missiles; one (1) MH-60B/R Excess Defense Article (EDA) USN legacy aircraft.
Sursa: dsca.mil
NSM-urile propriu-zise vor veni probabil la timpul lor.
E pentru prima data cand NSM va fi lansata din MH-60R. In sensul comercial, evident testele de certificare avand deja loc.
Ar fi interesant de urmarit daca USN va prelua ideea buna a indienilor sau se va limita pe viitor la Hellfire, mai ales cu toata discutia de pe marginea “letalitatii distribuite” si a dotarii slabe a LCS-urilor.
Si ce alte verticalioate vor mai primi NSM.
Plus, cine mai are nevoie de nave rapide lansatoare de rachete – daca NPR-urile singure oricum nu au senzorii necesari pentru a exploata raza de actiune de ~200km a rachetelor anti-nava moderne.