The MH-60 is the Navy’s premier multi mission helicopter – the carrier strike group’s shield against submarine and surface threats and the workhorse for search and rescue, medical evacuation and vertical replenishment. Keeping these aircraft flying is a logistics challenge that the team met through a seven year, $2.3 billion performance based contract with the U.S. Navy and a network of government depots.
By strategically leveraging in-house partners like Derco, a Lockheed Martin Company, with four decades of aircraft component repair expertise and 18 years delivering dedicated sustainment solutions unique to the Seahawk PBL, the comprehensive agreement covers 1,048 critical components, supporting more than 500 helicopters across the Navy, Coast Guard and allied partners.
Paul Klevan, Naval Supply Systems Command Weapons Systems Support (NAVSUP WSS) supply chain solutions director, said “This award validates what we know to be true: logistics is the lifeblood of combat power. The extraordinary success of the H-60 team means more H-60 Seahawks on the flight line, more mission-capable helicopters in the air and a more lethal force ready to answer our nation’s call. Their work ensures our warfighters have the decisive edge they need to deter our adversaries and win in a conflict.”
Under the PBL contract, material availability rose from 68% to an unprecedented 92%, a jump that translates directly into higher mission capable rates fleetwide. The team also integrated full support for the MH-60R’s Airborne Low Frequency Sonar (ALFS) anti submarine warfare system, eliminating every backorder for its parts and ensuring continuous sonar coverage.
Aggressive negotiations saved more than $700 million versus the original proposal, with an additional $197.5 million expected in cost avoidance over the life of the contract. Deploying Field Service Representatives alongside Navy partners further accelerated on site repairs, reducing the cannibalization of parts and cutting logistics costs by more than $32.5 million.
Ali Ruwaih, vice president, Sikorsky Maritime Systems, said “Delivering 92 percent material availability and eliminating all ALFS sonar back orders for the MH-60R demonstrates how performance based logistics turns supply chain excellence into combat power. By partnering with the Navy, driving cost avoidance and embedding repair experts directly with our warfighters, we keep more helicopters mission ready, protect our carrier strike groups and give the Navy the decisive edge it needs today and well into the future.”
By raising parts availability, removing sonar supply bottlenecks and delivering hundreds of millions in savings, the H-60 PBL Team has turned sustainment into a strategic advantage, ensuring the Navy’s helicopter fleet remains ready, lethal and poised to meet any challenge.
PBL Team
The MH-60 Seahawk PBL Team operates through a distributed public-private partnership across several key locations:
- Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems: The primary commercial contractor team is located in Owego, New York.
- Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR): The H-60 Multi-Mission Helicopter Program Office (PMA-299) manages the overall weapon system from Patuxent River, Maryland.
- Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP WSS): The weapon systems logistics and contract oversight operations are based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- Derco Aerospace: This key in-house Lockheed Martin repair and logistics partner operates out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
- Government Depots: The team integrates directly with a network of U.S. Navy and military organic repair depots nationwide, like the ones in Norfolk and Florida
See also |
Seahawk in
US Navy 
