In the world of helicopters, there are few sights as graceful & majestic as a Sea King soaring in the sky. A regular fixture in every Indian Navy (IN) flypast or Op Demo, the steel-grey boat hull every bit fits the description of a ‘Flying Frigate’. Residents of South Mumbai or Kochi would be familiar with the signature “whoosh” of this helicopter as it churns the skies on its way to rendezvous its “mother” deep in the sea.

To the lay observer, the anti-submarine/anti-surface vessel Sea King Mk 42B would hardly be discernible from a utility/commando variant Sea King Mk 42C from the Marine Commando Flight (MCF). Even an avid plane spotter can be pardoned for mistaking one for the other. The Sea King aura holds you transfixed.

Soon, such sightings will become a thing of the past in Indian skies.

From making history to Number Plating

At a solemn ceremony on Jun 14, 2026, Indian Naval Air Squadron 330, the embarking squadron of IN’s Sea King Mk 42B helicopters, will be “number plated” — a term used to signify the drawdown of a squadron till it is revived in a new avatar, usually with another type/mark.

Commissioned on 17 April 1971 at INS Garuda, Kochi under the command of Commander MP Wadhawan, the Harpoons served the nation for 55 glorious years. Orders have now been issued for the squadron’s drawdown. The remaining airframes will either be de-modified into utility “Barlies”, or used as test beds for ongoing sensor or weapon trials (eg, Naval Anti-Ship Missile NASM).

Post the 1965 Indo-Pak War, the urgent need for an airborne counter to Pakistan’s Daphne class submarines stared Indian Navy in the face. Accordingly, a case for induction of twelve Sea King Mk 42 helicopters was moved in 1968. Sanction was accorded for six frames and an order placed on UK’s GKN Westland by 1970. By end 1971, four helicopters arrived at Bombay (now Mumbai) while two were based at Cochin (now Kochi). On 26 July 1971, a Sea King Mk 42 landed on India’s first aircraft carrier INS Vikrant for the very first time.

Though the induction timelines were impressive, the narrow window from training to frontline left little time for intensive flight trials or development of tactics before the Indo-Pak War of 1971 was upon us. The first operational Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) mission was flown on 18 Oct 1971. The Harpoons clocked over 156 hours during the war, earning their spurs as the navy’s first embarking multirole helicopter squadron.

With time, training, careful crew selection, the Sea King’s excellent handling qualities, formidable weapons (A244S torpedoes, Sea Eagle anti-ship missiles, Mk 11 depth charge), sensors (Super Searcher radar, HS-12 dunking sonar, ESM, acoustic processor suite etc) plus easy adaptability across naval decks, the Harpoons’ rose to their motto “Any Sea, Any Mission, Any Deck”. The squadron deployed for many important operations including Op Falcon (1971), Op Cactus (1988), Op Jupiter (1989), Op Shield (1994), Op Vijay (1999), Op Parakram (2001-02), Op Castor (HADR, 2004), Op Sukoon (HADR, 2006), even the recent Op Sindoor (2025).

Replacements?

As on date, there is really no replacement in the IN for the versatile and capable Sea King. A payload capability of 8000 lbs, 28 troops in utility role (for Mk 42C; 22 in modified Mk42 ‘Barlie’), 4:30h endurance and over 450 Nm range (this in the 70s!) kept the Harpoons leagues ahead of any competition. Crews launched unaided (no NVGs) non-diversionary from heaving small decks in “pitch dark night” [a Sea King lexicon that single-pilot Eagles (Kamovs) call “dark phase”!] with two pilots, one Tacco (tactical coordinator) and one Senso (sensor operator) for complex coordinated ship-air ASW exercises that involve hovering 50 feet over the night sea before the term ‘crew resource management’ was even officially recognised!

In October 1995, the squadron shifted from INS Garuda, Kochi, to INS Shikra, Mumbai, where it continued its illustrious journey till curtains fell on Jun 5, 2026. During this period, the squadron won many honours, including 22 Nausena Medals (a staggering number for a largely peacetime navy since 1971), and flew an estimated 25000 hours with three dozen airframes over five decades.

A record worth celebrating

To their credit, only six hull losses (three fatal) were recorded in the history of INAS 330 — a commendable safety record. Eleven crew laid down their lives in the line of duty. The nation owes a debt of gratitude to these gallant naval aviators who never flinched from challenges the seas throw at those who dare.

Where do we go now?

Of the seventeen Mk42Bs left in service, four were converted to utility role by removing sonar and sonics (unofficially called “Barlies”). The rest will be utilised under a “reduce to produce” philosophy to keep three Mk 42Bs flying in INAS 336 as test beds for developmental trials, or ‘cannibalised’ as required to keep the six original Sea King Mk 42Cs airworthy and operational. The indigenous Indian Multi Role Helicopter (IMRH) and Deck Based MRH (DBMRH) are still on the drawing board. No platform comes close to the six ‘Charlies’ and modified ‘Barlies’ in terms of reach and capability in utility/commando/SAR roles, so it makes eminent sense for the IN to keep them flying till replacements arrive.

What next?

There are decidedly big shoes to fill. The Harpoons’ story reminds one of the old saying “nothing grows under an oak”. For the longest time, any potential new rotary induction was benchmarked to the Sea King, willy-nilly raising the bar for indigenous design and development. The Bravo’s halo hovered over the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) in its early days, since the only people in the room with (purportedly) an advanced understanding of conventional helicopter design and unconventional tactics were Sea King crew! This pulled the ALH project towards “unobtanium” before the navy brought in course corrections. Meanwhile, a few good men had the fortitude to plant seeds for the next oak under whose shade future generations of naval aviators could bloom and the business of the navy could go on.

Eventually, the 16 MRH program was launched (2008) for which a group of Harpoons (again!), technical officers and a test pilot from “you bloody Kamovs” fraternity (yours truly) scoured design houses and factories across Europe and USA (2011) to find a worthy replacement for 15 Sea King Mk 42/42A plus one Mk 42B lost in an accident. When that program was called off following the blacklisting of Agusta Westland, IN took the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route to acquire 24 MH-60R Seahawks (Romeos).

By this time, the venerable Flying Frigates were in terminal decline, with mounting maintenance and serviceability challenges, despite many novel initiatives by engineers and logisticians.

Enter the Romeo Indian

On Mar 6, 2024, as the sun arced towards the idyllic ‘Chinese fishing nets’ of Kochi in southern Kerala, INAS 334 was commissioned into the fleet air arm with MH-60Rs. On 17 Dec 2025, the second squadron INAS 335 was raised at INS Hansa, Goa.

At ‘Harpoons Nite’ on 14 Jun, 2026, old Sea King foggies will clink high balls with young Romeo crew who fly “the most advanced multi role helicopter in the world”. At comparable maximum all-up weight, the Romeo parked next to a Sea King in a naval hangar would look like its offspring (they do come from the same parent though — Sikorsky!). Times have changed, so have technologies that seek to compress everything into a smaller footprint. The Romeo packs quite a punch and is a worthy successor to the Flying Frigate. But Sea King will ever remain the graceful one.

As opposed to the baptism by fire that Harpoons underwent after being pitchforked into the 1971 War soon after induction, the Romeos have been able to pace themselves remarkably well. Intensive flight trials, rigorous development of SOPs and tactics, methodical training, seamless integration with the fleet — all this makes for a smooth transition from the vintage Sea Kings that were anyway getting long in the tooth. The old must make way for the new.

The proof of the pudding will be in weapon integration (contracted & indigenous), a well thought-out follow-on support package, deep reserves of spares and air armament, and a training pipeline that puts young crew through the paces to “fully ops” status before the third row of gold lines up on the shoulder. I am told the average “fully ops” Romeo crew today would likely be in their late twenties or early thirties. This is indeed heartening.

Even so, worry lines will continue to crease the foreheads of naval planners in the near term. The brutal manner in which IRIS Dena was torpedoed and sunk by the US Navy at the onset of ongoing Middle East conflict is a grim reminder of the myriad dangers that lurk in waters of our interest. The only major surface combatant from IN lost to enemy action (INS Khukri, Dec 1971) became a victim of Pakistani submarine attack when the Harpoons were still finding their sea legs. PN has made rapid strides in putting together a formidable submarine force since then while the IN remains warship-heavy.

The only thing a submarine commander fears is an ASW helicopter. The greatest threat to a surface combatant is a submarine. Hope INAS 330 is revived in near future with a capability that seamlessly plugs into the ‘warship–fixed wing LRASW–helicopter’ triad of a networked fleet air arm. We had 55 years to prepare for this with INAS 330 as the sheet anchor. Op Sindoor and the ongoing Middle East crisis reminds us that pussyfooting around DBMRH is a luxury we can ill-afford. Designs on drawing boards deter nobody.

My abiding respect to all Harpoons — serving, retired, the dear departed and their families. Thank you for the sterling service to the nation.

Sham Noh Varuna.

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©KP Sanjeev Kumar, 2022. All rights reserved. Views are my own. All photos courtesy Indian Navy. Cover photo (artwork) by Harpoon Leader Cdr Anshuman Chatterjee (Insta: @chats_cartoons). I can be reached at realkaypius@gmail.com.

INAS 330 was number plated by an order from Naval Headquarters as of Jun 5, 2026. The official ceremony is on Jun 14, 2026.