Ex Talisman Saber 2017 - A Pair of United States Navy (USN) Sikorsky HH-60H Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 85 (HSC-85) 'Firehawks' Arrive at Rockhampton Airport

With joint Military Exercise Talisman Saber 2017 hitting top gear next week, the pre-exercise activities continue up and down the East Coast of Australia and in the Top End.  On Monday 3 July, a pair of United States Navy (USN) Seahawk helicopters looked to complete a journey from the Northern Territory to Rockhampton via fuel stops including Longreach.

From Longreach, they flew across to Rockhampton Airport where they made a spectacular late afternoon arrival, parking alongside the cross-runway 04/22.

The two helicopters were heard to use the radio callsign of "Tomahawk 11" and have been identified as Sikorsky HH-60H Seahawks which are flown by the Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 85 (HSC-85) "Firehawks", which is a United States Navy Reserve helicopter squadron based at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, California.

The two Seahawks spotted arriving into Rockhampton Airport look to be 163784 / NW-300 and 165121 / NW-313.

Of interest, four HH-60H Seahawks of the HSC-85 "Firehawks" were based at Rockhampton Airport during Exercise Talisman Saber 2013 - as shown in the photo below.

File photo

Sincere thanks to all the local plane spotters in Longreach and Rockhampton who took the time to capture and send through these great photos of a couple of great arrivals into Rocky today!

Photos taken by 'AC', Ben O'Dowd and Daniel Bishop  ©