Agusta AS61 Sea King: The main submarine Hunter of the Iranian navy

Il_Signor_Regio · May 3, 2024, 5:32am

[Would you like to see this in-game?]

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Description: The Agusta AS61 was the Italian version of the American SH3D made by the Italian company Agusta. It was made in the 1970s and was primarily used by the Italian Navy. It was later adopted by other countries, such as Iran, Peru, Iraq, Argentina, and others. In 1974, the Iranian Navy ordered from Agusta a total of 18 AS61 Sea King, 13 for ASW roles, equipped with nose-mounted AN/APN-195 radar, and the remaining five were equipped with the LN-66 search radar for the Marte MK2 anty ship missile. The delivery of the first 14 units (with the addition of a small stock of Marte MKII) started in 1976 and continued despite the Islamic Revolution. The last four units were delivered in 1980, and two more units were taken from the air force. When the Iraqi-Iranian war started in 1980, the units alongside the AB212 ASW were used for anty convoy raids against the Iraqi and non-Iraqi merchant ships. They were mainly used with the AGM65A, Marte MKII, and FL-6 (a copy of the Marte MKII, made since it wasn’t possible anymore to buy the Marte from Italy). During the war, the Iranian Sea Kings hit a total of 10 times with the AGM65A and an unknown number of Marte and FL-6 missiles. It’s unknown if they ever managed to sink any enemy targets, given the small amount of information available. In seven years of war, a total of three units were destroyed by the Iranian air defenses. Of the remaining 17 units, in 2008, only 6 were considered flyworty since they lacked spare parts because the Iranian navy was experiencing constant budget cuts and couldn’t buy any new parts. Thanks to a small maintenance program, in 2017, the Iranian navy was able to raise the number of operation units to 11. They are not going to be replaced, so the Iranian sea king will continue their service for the following years.

Why it should be in game: it could bring to the Italian tt a nice event/premium heli

Big thanks to Iranian_armoured_class for all the help!

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