Following the recent commissioning of 725 Squadron, training the MH-60R Seahawk Romeo, another important milestone was achieved recently with the first Romeo flight permanently embarking in an Australian warship.
HMAS Perth and the first Romeo flight, codenamed ‘Gauntlet’, were reunited off Darwin following their successful pairing during the MH-60R First of Class Flight Trials earlier in the year.
The flight, consisting of six aircrew and thirteen maintenance personnel, had spent the previous week deploying from HMAS Albatross to RAAF Base Darwin, including seventeen flying hours for the aircraft.
After all aircrew are qualified, the focus will shift to integrating the MH-60R capabilities into Perth for Exercise TALISMAN SABRE 15. The helicopters participation in the exercise will be an important stepping stone for the MH-60R achieving Initial Operating Capability at sea in August this year.
Perth will return back to Fleet Base West at the end of July, prior to the ship conducting an extended maintenance period until the end of the year.
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Image: Australian Navy