When the Sea King anti-submarine helicopter entered service with the Royal Navy in 1969 it represented a quantum leap in capability. The helicopter underwent continuous development to keep pace with the threat posed by the Soviet submarine force and by 1979 new and reworked HAS.5 versions were being delivered to fleet squadrons for operation from aircraft carriers and fleet auxiliary ships. The planned introduction of towed-array sonars, due to be fitted to frigates and submarines from the mid-1980s, however, promised to give these vessels unprecedented target detection ranges and the Sea King lacked the radius of action to exploit them. In the ordinary course of events, a replacement airframe from 1985 was anticipated with anti-submarine Sea Kings being phased out by 1989 after a 20-year life in service. It did not quite work out like that!
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