South Korea advances fleet renewal with follow-on MH-60R helicopter purchase

South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), the country’s defence procurement agency, has approved a follow-on acquisition of Sikorsky MH-60R maritime helicopters to replace the navy’s long-serving Leonardo Lynx Mk.99/99A fleet.

The purchase will proceed through the US government’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS) channel, which allows allied nations to acquire American defence equipment directly through the Pentagon. Seoul’s Defense Acquisition Committee selected the type following a purchase test evaluation and negotiation process under the Maritime Operations Helicopter (MOH) 2 programme.

DAPA has allocated a budget of KRW3.24 trillion ($2.5 billion) for the effort, with the programme scheduled to run from 2025 to 2032. The agency has not disclosed the number of aircraft involved. Seoul first signalled its intention to retire the Lynx fleet in December 2023, and in May 2026 the US government cleared a separate FMS case covering 24 MH-60Rs along with associated equipment and services, valued at $3 billion.

According to DAPA, the MH-60R offers longer endurance than the Lynx it replaces and can be fitted with a modern low-frequency dipping sonar — a sensor lowered into the water from a hovering helicopter to detect submarines.

South Korea’s navy already flies 12 MH-60Rs acquired under the original MOH programme; the type entered service in April. Aviation analytics firm Cirium lists the navy’s remaining Lynx fleet at 24 airframes with an average age of 30.7 years, alongside eight newer AW159s averaging roughly a decade in service.

VTOL drone programme revised

The same committee meeting also produced unspecified revisions to South Korea’s vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) programme, which aims to develop a domestically built rotorcraft drone for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. DAPA cited the country’s mountainous terrain as a key reason vertical take-off capability is required, and said the planned platform’s ISR performance would be four times better than existing fixed-wing UAVs. The project carries KRW2.2 trillion in funding and a 2027–2036 timeline.

The helicopter selection touches several listed companies with links to the MH-60R supply chain. Helicopter maker Leonardo, whose Lynx fleet is being retired, is the majority parent of Leonardo DRS (NASDAQ: DRS), a defence electronics provider whose shares closed at $36.06, down 3.19% from a previous close of $37.25, valuing the company at roughly $9.88 billion. Precision timing and frequency specialist Frequency Electronics (NASDAQ: FEIM), which supplies components used in defence applications, traded at $65.14, down 1.3%, with a market capitalisation near $731 million.

What to watch

• Disclosure of the specific MH-60R quantity and delivery schedule under the MOH 2 programme
• Progress of the previously approved 24-aircraft FMS case and first deliveries
• Further DAPA detail on the revised VTOL UAV requirements and industry selection
• Upcoming earnings reports from Leonardo DRS and Frequency Electronics for programme-related commentary

Source: original release