NDA (II) 2022 General Ability Test · Question 118 of 150

Correct — D, USA. The MH-60R Seahawk is an American naval helicopter built by Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, and India contracted for it through the United States government's Foreign Military Sales route. The Cabinet Committee on Security cleared the purchase on 19 February 2020 and the agreement was signed on 26 February 2020, at a value of roughly two point one billion US dollars. The helicopter is a multi-role naval platform built around anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, and it was bought to replace the Indian Navy's ageing Sea King fleet and give its warships a modern submarine-hunting helicopter.

• (a)Israel — Israel is a major defence partner of India, but its supplies run to unmanned aerial vehicles, radars, missiles and electronic warfare systems rather than large naval helicopters. It has no part in the MH-60R programme.
• (b)France — France is the source of the Rafale fighter for the Indian Air Force and of the Scorpene-class submarine design built at Mazagon Dock, which makes it a plausible naval-procurement answer. The MH-60R, however, is not a French platform.
• (c)Russia — Russia has historically been India's largest arms supplier, and much of the Navy's older inventory including several helicopter types came from there — which is why this option feels safe. The Seahawk family is American in origin and design, not Russian.

The MH-60R Seahawk belongs to the American Seahawk family derived from the Black Hawk. It is a shipborne multi-role helicopter, flown from the decks of destroyers, frigates and carriers, and equipped with dipping sonar, sonobuoys, radar and torpedoes for hunting submarines, along with a surface-attack role and search-and-rescue capability. India bought it through Foreign Military Sales, a government-to-government channel in which the United States government contracts with the manufacturer on the buyer's behalf, rather than through a direct commercial contract.

The reliable way to answer platform-origin questions is to learn the family a name belongs to rather than the individual designation. Seahawk, Black Hawk and Chinook are American; Rafale and Mirage are French; Sukhoi, MiG and Kamov are Russian; Heron and Searcher are Israeli. That single habit resolves most of this question type without any memory of the deal itself. Anchoring the timeline matters too: the agreement dates from February 2020, deliveries had begun before the September 2022 exam, and the induction of the type into Indian naval squadrons continued in the years after it — so a question phrased about the same helicopters today would be asking about an operational fleet rather than a fresh purchase.

• The MH-60R Seahawk is built by Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, in the United States.
• India's Cabinet Committee on Security approved the purchase on 19 February 2020 and the agreement was signed on 26 February 2020.
• The deal was worth about two point one billion US dollars and was routed through the United States' Foreign Military Sales programme.
• The helicopter's primary roles are anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, with search and rescue as a secondary task.
• It was acquired to replace the Indian Navy's ageing Sea King helicopters.

• Choosing Russia by default because it has long been India's largest arms supplier.
• Mixing up the Seahawk with other recent purchases such as the Rafale from France or the Scorpene submarine design.
• Treating the signing year as the induction year — the agreement was 2020, and the helicopters arrived later.

As this country-of-origin pick, as a match-the-platform-to-its-supplier list, or as a statement pair combining the manufacturer with the year of the contract.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The MH-60R helicopter acquired by the Indian Navy is designed primarily for

  • (a)heavy-lift transport of troops
  • (b)anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare
  • (c)high-altitude casualty evacuation
  • (d)aerial firefighting

  Answer(b) anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare — it carries dipping sonar, sonobuoys, radar and torpedoes and flies from warship decks.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Rafale multi-role fighter aircraft inducted by the Indian Air Force was acquired from

  • (a)the United States
  • (b)France
  • (c)Russia
  • (d)Sweden

  Answer(b) France — the Rafale is built by the French firm Dassault Aviation.