Pacific deployment for MH-60, LCS-4

The Navy plans to use an MH-60 Seahawk helicopter with the first Independence class Littoral Combat Ship scheduled to deploy to the Western Pacific in 2016. Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 23 based in California, will deploy with an MH-60S along with an MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle with USS Coronado (LCS-4), said CAPT Ben Reynolds, deputy commander of Helicopter Sea Combat Wing for the U.S. Pacific Fleet. So far, all LCS deployments to Singapore have used MH-60R and an MQ-8B with the Freedom class USS Fort Worth (LCS-3). MH-60S is the module of the LCS surface warfare and mine countermeasures (MCM) mission packages. (Source: Sea Power 08/24/15) Gulf Coast Shipbuilding Note: USS Coronado and all even-numbered LCS hulls are built on the Gulf Coast at Austal USA's shipyards in Mobile, Ala. MCM warfare packages are developed and tested at Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City, Fla.