Much of that maturity was built long before the helicopters ever reached Saudi soil. RSNF aircrews logged more than 4,300 flight hours and an additional 3,200 hours in flight simulators alongside U.S. Navy instructors at Naval Station Mayport, Florida, a training pipeline that program officials point to as the foundation on which the rest of the achievement rests.
Joshua Deuley, who manages the RSNF case for the Navy’s H-60 Multi-Mission Helicopter program, framed the milestone as a shared accomplishment rather than a one-sided delivery. “This achievement is a testament to the dedication of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces and the power of our combined efforts,” he said.
Deuley credited the training pipeline itself for producing capability that extends well beyond flight hours on a logbook. “Through meticulous joint training, we have built a robust capability that enhances regional maritime security,” he said. “We are incredibly proud of what our Saudi partners have accomplished.”
The program tracing back to that training dates to July 2015, when the foreign military sale underpinning the entire effort was first signed, covering ten MH-60R helicopters along with training for the pilots, sensor operators and maintenance crews needed to operate and sustain them. Delivery came in two waves, with the first five aircraft arriving in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, in February 2020, and the remaining five following in December 2022.
In the years since those aircraft touched down, the RSNF has put them to consistent operational use, flying more than 5,600 hours domestically on missions that contribute directly to the Kingdom’s maritime security posture. Deuley described the arc from contract signature to flight-hour milestone as the clearest evidence yet of the program’s payoff.
“From the initial FMS case signing to the completion of 10,000 flight hours in June 2026, the program has successfully equipped RSNF with advanced capabilities and trained personnel to enhance its operational readiness,” he said. Notably, the RSNF is only the second foreign military sales partner worldwide to reach the 10,000 flight-hour mark on the MH-60R platform, a distinction that program officials say reflects the strength of the training and support architecture the two navies have built together.
That architecture is likely to remain a template the U.S. Navy points to as it manages a growing roster of MH-60R export customers navigating similar paths from delivery to full operational integration. The aircraft at the center of it, the MH-60R Seahawk, serves as the U.S. Navy’s principal anti-submarine and surface warfare helicopter, engineered to operate from virtually any aviation-capable ship across both land and maritime missions.
