Seasprite helicopter transported for duty in Asia

The SH-2G(I) Seasprite Helicopter from No. 6 Squadron, was this week loaded aboard a Boeing C-17A Globemaster III at RNZAF Base Auckland.

The helicopter will connect with Maritime Sustainment Vessel HMNZS Aotearoa which has been undergoing maintenance in Singapore since April.

Aotearoa is set to take part in Exercise Bersama Lima, a Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) tactical level military exercise being hosted in Malaysia. The FPDA is a multilateral defence pact established in 1971 between Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

The ship and its embarked helicopter will also contribute to the monitoring of United Nations Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea.

While Royal New Zealand Air Force NH-90s have been transported by C-17As before, this is a first for this variant of Seasprite.

No. 6 Squadron maintainers prepared the helicopter for transport, folding in and securing the rotors, while Air Movements packaged the freight and assessed the weights.

Flight Sergeant Sam Collis, Air Movements Section Coordinator at Base Auckland, says the total weight was nearly 21 tonnes, around 45,000 pounds.

Air Movements can weigh the helicopter using portable vehicle scales.

“The helicopter weighed in at 4,971kg. The rest was freight.”

That included the ‘Mantis’, the aircraft tug needed to pull a helicopter within a ship’s hangar and on the flight deck.

Aotearoa undertook the same operation last year, refuelling international navy vessels in support of the Seventh Fleet and conducting monitoring to detect and deter sanctions evasions.