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First British Sea King helicopter has been delivered and acquired Ukrainian markings.
The Ukrainian Navy has acquired the primary WS-61 Sea King helicopter provided by the UK. The video, offering a primary take a look at the previous Royal Navy helicopter sporting Ukrainian markings was posted by the Ukrainian Protection Minister Oleksii Reznikov on Jan. 21, 2023, in a tweet to thank British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace for the donation.
Sea King from the UK has arrived in its new kingdom close to the Black Sea in Ukraine!
It’s a sturdy reinforcement for the Ukrainian Navy. Our cooperation will proceed to extend.
Thanks to @BWallaceMP
Collectively, we are going to safe the seas and lands throughout all of Europe! pic.twitter.com/Qf4mF2vp8L— Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) January 21, 2023
On Nov. 23, 2022, BBC reported, citing U.Ok. Protection Secretary Ben Wallace, that the UK would give three Sea King helicopters. Three days later, on Nov. 26, 2022, the UK Protection Ministry mentioned the UK would practice 10 aircrews to make use of the helicopters to boost the Ukrainian SAR (Search And Rescue) capabilities.
The Sea King proven within the Ukrainian Protection Minister’s tweet has a paint scheme that’s much like the one used on the Mi-24V attack helicopters donated by Czech Republic, that sport a big Ukrainian flag on the nostril and white bands on the tail boom.
The Westland Sea King is a British license-built model of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter. Each the Royal Air Pressure and the Royal Navy operated the helicopter. The RN’s Sea King fleet was based mostly at RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall, and was operated by 849, 824 and 814 Naval Air Squadrons. The Sea Kings additionally operated from Royal Navy warships.
The Sea King entered service in 1969 and was utilized in varied operations, together with the Falklands Warfare, the Gulf Warfare, the Balkans battle in addition to Afghanistan. Its major function was anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions and SAR though a number of variants had been developed for various duties, similar to ship-based AEW (Airborne Early Warning) and troop transportation.
The Sea King HC.4 / Westland Commando was a variant particularly designed for the Royal Navy’s Commando Helicopter Force (CHF). The Sea King HC.4 was a modified model of the ASW helicopter, with the foremost distinction being the addition of a winch and hoist for the insertion and extraction of troops and gear. The Commando variant was additionally geared up with extra armor and self-defense programs to guard in opposition to floor fireplace.
The final remaining Sea King helicopter in Royal Navy service was retired on Sept. 26, 2018.
Apparently, as identified by our reader Niek van der Zande, on Dec. 21, 2022, one Sea King was famous on ADS-B over Germany in the course of the supply flight. It confirmed serial ZA166 and callsign URHO10. Primarily based on the logs from Radarbox, it flew from Koksijde to Erfurt on that day. Offered the serial is appropriate, that was a Sea King HAS.5, an upgraded anti-submarine warfare model Sea King for the Royal Navy.
David Cenciotti is a journalist based mostly in Rome, Italy. He’s the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of many world’s most well-known and skim army aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for main worldwide magazines, together with Air Forces Month-to-month, Fight Plane, and lots of others, protecting aviation, protection, battle, trade, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown a number of fight planes with completely different air forces. He’s a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Pressure, a personal pilot and a graduate in Pc Engineering. He has written 5 books and contributed to many extra ones.
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