Westland Sea King, British licence version, Sikorsky S-61 helicopter, RAF Waddington, air display, anti-submarine, Vulcan holding, waiting in line.
The Admiralty was not satisfied with arrangements for British anti-submarine warfare in the mid 1960s. The Wessex was useful for hunting and finding submarines, but lacked the power to lift or capacity to deliver missiles or depth charges to engage with them. The latter role was that of the Wasp , which whilst it could deliver the punch, could not also carry the equipment or have the endurance to find them. Thus two airframes, operating as a relay team were required to do the job. In 1967, Westland obtained a licence to build a version of the HSS-2 in the UK with all British avionics, including the proven Ekco radar/ Type 195 sonar combination from the Wessex and replacing the US engines with twin Gnome H1400s. An initial order for 60 Sea King was placed by the RN and the first UK built machine flew on 7 May 1969 from Yeovil. The Westland Sea King is a British-made version of the Sikorsky S-61/S-3 and is in operation by the RAF, Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The Westland SeaKing is the British license built version of the Sikorsky S-61 helicopter which entered service near the end of the 1950s. This well known aircraft has been in British service for a good number of years now, serving various roles in the RAF and Royal Navy. Uses for the SeaKing and it's Sikorsky S-61 sister helicopters include search and rescue, anti submarine work and general transportation. The S-61 is also used commercially.
Size: 5300px × 3533px
Photo credit: © Steve Welsh / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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