Australia's MH-60R 'Romeos' tout 'underwater Aegis'

During the this year's Avalon air show I had a choice: a media dinner at Gordon Ramsey's famous restaurant, or dinner with the Lockheed Martin guys pitching the MH-60R 'Romeo' to Australia. Things military being far more interesting than things edible, I opted for the Romeo dinner. 

The meal, with three Lockheed guys and two other journalists, turned out to be excellent. Far more interesting was my discussion with one of the Lockheed guys, a former US navy officer who had spent a good part of his career hunting submarines in the Seasprite and Seahawk helicopters.  

Given the rising prevalence of super quiet diesel electric submarines in the Asia Pacific, both in North Asia and Southeast Asia, I asked him if sensors were still up to the task of finding them. Turns out the old 'listen for the enemy submarine'  - as in the iconic book The Hunt for Red October -  is no longer how its done.

These days its all about ultra low frequency sonar, which my host called 'The underwater Aegis, ' referring to the active electronically scanned array radar used on US Arleigh Burke destroyers and Ticonderoga cruisers. In the Romeo this capability is provided by the Raytheon ASQ-22 dipping sonar. He told me the ASQ-22 has been very effective in exercises against diesel electric submarines operated by allied powers.

"When the submarines hear the Romeos will be in the exercise, they know they are going to get caught," he said.