On Tuesday, The United States of America approved the sale of 24 MH-60 Helicopters to India which will help the country boost its firepower. The MH-60 Helicopters will be used to target submarines.

The move was done to boost its ally’s firepower as China is currently expanding to the Indian Ocean.

A statement from the State Department said, “The proposed sale will provide India the capability to perform anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare missions along with the ability to perform secondary missions including vertical replenishment, search and rescue, and communications relay.”

The MH-60R Helicopter is also known as The Romeo, the helicopters are manufactured by Lockheed Martin and are designed specifically to hunt submarines and knock out ships that are conducting search and rescue operations.

The US State Department said, “This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to strengthen the US-Indian strategic relationship and to improve the security of a major defensive partner.”

The state department called India as “a major defensive partner which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia region.”

The United States of America and India had built relations with each other since the Cold War, India has emerged as one of the leading defense partners of the USA.

India was alarmed by China’s interest in the Indian Ocean as it is currently becoming a global naval powerhouse.

The DSCA said, “This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to strengthen the U.S.-Indian strategic relationship and to improve the security of a major defensive partner which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia region.”