As the leading practitioner of airborne mine countermeasures, the US Navy is developing a raft of new systems to bring the capabilities into the smaller MH-60 airframes mandated by the service's Helicopter Master Plan. While most navies rely on specialised surface vessels to counter the threat of mines, the US Navy (USN) has taken a different route to ensure access and keep sea lanes free from mines, based upon its relatively long history of carrying out airborne mine countermeasures (AMCM) operations as far back as the Korean War. This thinking is not new and for virtually as long as helicopters have been in naval service, they have been used in the MCM role, first as spotters carrying onboard snipers to shoot free-floating mines, and then taking on more proactive sweeping roles with the evolution of specialised heliborne equipment and the development of more powerful helicopters.
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