Westland Sea King
in Luftforsvaret

Initial order for 10 Mk43 Search and Rescue Sea Kings honoured by Westland with construction at Yeovil and deliveries during 1972. Operated by 330 Skv (qv). Further small orders for the Mk43A and Mk43B followed. Despite budget cuts in Norway, a replacement programme with the NH-90 is scheduled (2004) to commence in 2005.

Royal Norwegian Air Force Sea Kings carry the Rescue lettering (Redningstjeneste) prominently on the white and dayglo-orange painted airframes. 330Skv co-operates closely with the Kystvakt (Norwegian Coast Guard).

Mk43B based on the UK RN HAS.5 with ASW equipment replaced by a specific avionics fit for R Nor AF operations. A large, dorsal mounted Telephonics RDR 1500B radar aft of the main rotor, nose mounted Telephonics RDR 1300C radar on the port quarter, a FLIR Systems Inc FLIR 2000F forward looking infra-red sensor, improved navigation systems and the main gearbox Emergency Lubrication System (ELS).

To extend the reliability of the Mk.43 Sea Kings, 3 ex RAF HAR.3A (ZH540, ZH543, ZH544) were acquired for sacrifical spares during Nov 2015 and stored at Sola and Kjeller, until the replacement AW101 Srs 612s are introduced to service, around 2018/19.

Initially scheduled to be replaced by AgustaWestland AW101 from 2017, the last Sea King is expected to be retired by 2023.