Aircraft
New Zealand’s Super Seasprite Takes Wing
The refurbished Super Seasprites are expected to serve with the Royal New Zealand Navy through at least 2030.
The first of 10 SH-2G(I) Super Seasprites for New Zealand flies for the first time after modification at Kaman Aerospace’s facility at Bloomfield, Conn., on April 15. (Photo: Kaman Aerospace)
The first of 10 SH-2G(I) Super Seasprites for New Zealand flies for the first time after modification at Kaman Aerospace’s facility at Bloomfield, Conn., on April 15. (Photo: Kaman Aerospace)

Kaman Aerospace has begun production flight-testing of the first of 10 refurbished SH-2G(I) Super Seasprites that were previously delivered to Australia, but have now been bought by the Royal New Zealand Navy. The milestone opens another chapter in the story of a design that made its first flight (as the HU2K-1) on July 2, 1959, and which became a stalwart of the U.S. Navy’s shipborne helicopter fleet until retired in 2001.

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