Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron Seven Nine (HSM-79) "Griffins" is a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

helicopter squadron based at Naval Base Rota, Rota, Spain. Their radio callsign is "Sentinel". The unit operates the

Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk The Sikorsky SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk (or Sea Hawk) is a twin turboshaft engine, multi-mission United States Navy helicopter based on the United States Army UH-60 Black Hawk and a member of the Sikorsky S-70 family. The most significant modificati ...

which provides deployed aircraft and crews to ships of the Sixth Fleet. The unit has a detachment deployed to

Naval Station Rota Naval Station Rota, also known as NAVSTA Rota (), is a Spanish naval base, that is jointly used by the Spanish Navy and the United States Navy. Located in Rota in the Province of Cádiz, NAVSTA Rota is the largest American military community in ...

, Spain, by the end of 2022 the entire squadron will permanently deploy to Rota, to support European based ships.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hsm-79 Helicopter maritime strike squadrons of the United States Navy