Washington: The United States has approved the sale of 24 MH-60R multi-mission helicopters to India in order “to improve the security of a major defensive partner which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia region.”
“The United States Department of State has approved the sale of 24 MH-60R multi-mission helicopters to India under its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. The value of the potential is USD 2.6 billion,” reads the statement released by the Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), the body that administers Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme.
“The proposed sale will provide India with the capability to perform anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare missions along with the ability to perform secondary missions, including vertical replenishment, search and rescue, and communications relay. India will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defence,” the statement added.
DCSA has clarified that this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]