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Nice to see my article reported here. Hope the readers on this site found it informative.

No problem @Abingdonboy! As far as a future road map, S-70B would depend on Sikorsky winning future proposals vs. an existing an on going production contract for the 60R. For existing customers, Sikorsky can & does bid on any upgrades to the S-70B and has been doing it for over 20 years. That's...

Abingdonboy, OK.. Let me see what I can do to answer your questions. 1. As far as integration of foreign or new equipment into the aircrafts avionics/mission system, for the 60R, I cannot say as Lockheed is just beginning to perform this activity on the first few foreign customers. So...

Abingdonboy, The Australians had a billion dollar failure with the Seaspite program and after that the politicians decided to go for a low risk program. They perceived the 60R as a low risk approach given its use by the USN and time in service. Had you asked the operators who now fly the...

As a former Sikorsky employee & expert on the S-70B let me say they are different, most notably with regards to the mission system. (The airframes are both made by Sikorsky). The 60R & 70B are very similar with regards to mission capability and the mission systems they contain. The S-70B was...

While no mention is made of the S-70B for the NMRH proposal, you can it expect it to be offered as well as the MH-60R/S. If the S-70B wins the current 16 A/C MRH competition, I would expect it to become the front runner for the NMRH competition. As I have noted before, the S-70B was made for the...

Agreed Sancho but you can only put those advantages to work if the whole package is meeting it's requirements let alone being delivered in a timely manner.

NH90 delivery issues continue. More reasons why the Indian Navy should choose the S-70B. Norway threatens to cancel NH90 helicopter order

Commercial bid validity extended till Dec 2012. NHI must really be worried to be pushing the MOD this hard. They have an inferior product and they know it! See the link below...

God I wish the MOD would get on with this and make an announcement! Wonder what is holding this up!!

I believe this first buy may be somewhat of a risk reduction activity to insure the Indian navy is satisfied before they go with the "big buy". Not sure if there are any differences in the RFPs that were released. But the S-70B can be configured to for most of the missions I can think of: ASW...

The numbers are wrong. Last I heard it was $4 billion for the 75. S-70B should win the first tender and should then be the front runner for the 2nd. The S-70B can do anything the 60R & 60S can do and do it better. The NH-90 just isn't there yet. Lockheed & the USN, will push the 60R & 60S...

Yes, different MFDs, CDUs, flight control, stores/weapons management, FLIR, sonar and other equipment mean different maintenance and logistics. Different system and software design mean completely different operator and crew training. Australia chose the NH-90 over the Blackhawk in that...

First, read my previous post on the differences. OK, let me start by saying that Lockheed Martin and the USN have had a long relationship with the Sikorsky Seahawk for many years with Lockheed (Owego, NY facility) producing the mission and avionics systems for that aircraft. Politics has...

I worked on the S-70B mission & weapons management systems for over 15 years during my career at Sikorsky. I am sorry but you are misinformed. What I said is correct. My previous posts on the "central" versus "federated" system architectures provides more info.

Abingdonboy, Similarity in equipment carried & missions performed but it ends there. The airframes are different, flight control systems are different, and the avionics and mission systems are a completely different design. This would certainly have a big impact on training, logistics...

There is no need for two platforms as both the 60R & 70B perform virtually the same ASW & ASuW missions. In addition, the MH-60R is not in the current tender for 16 MRH aircraft for the Indian navy. The S-70B is & should win that competition. The Indian Navy, I believe, will be happy with that...