Direct proof of use
The MH-60S Sea Hawk is documented in the Afghanistan war record through U.S. Navy support to Operation Freedom's Sentinel rather than a public record of MH-60S strike missions over Afghanistan. Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 21's official history says its expeditionary force structure used MH-60S Seahawk detachments, and records HSC-21 Detachment 2 deploying with the Essex Amphibious Ready Group and Marine Expeditionary Unit in 2019 while supporting Operation Freedom Sentinel.
Separate NAVCENT imagery from December 12, 2018 identifies an MH-60S Sea Hawk from HSC-21 launching from USS Essex in the Arabian Sea. NAVCENT's accompanying operational account says USS Essex and the John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group were supporting Operation Freedom's Sentinel, providing armed support to deny terrorist safe haven in Afghanistan and enable Afghan security forces.
Sources: HSC-21 Official History, NAVCENT Essex Integrated Operations, NAVCENT HSC-21 MH-60S Image
Timeline
The public MH-60S-specific record begins with HSC community deployments after the aircraft entered fleet service, but the most explicit Afghanistan-war milestones are from the Operation Freedom's Sentinel period. In December 2018, an HSC-21 MH-60S was photographed aboard USS Essex during Arabian Sea operations tied to Afghanistan support. In 2019, HSC-21 recorded Detachment 2 deploying with the Essex ARG/MEU while supporting Operation Freedom Sentinel.
During the final withdrawal phase, the Navy reported that Carrier Air Wing 3 aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower supported Operation Freedom's Sentinel in the Arabian Sea from April 28 to June 23, 2021, providing overwatch, security, electronic attack, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance for the drawdown of U.S. and coalition forces from Afghanistan. The same Navy account lists HSC-7 returning from that deployment with eight MH-60S Knighthawks.
Sources: NAVCENT Essex Integrated Operations, NAVCENT HSC-21 MH-60S Image, HSC-21 Official History, Navy CVW-3 Afghanistan Drawdown
Operational role
The source-backed role for the MH-60S in this conflict is carrier and expeditionary support to U.S.-led Afghanistan operations. The aircraft appears as an embarked helicopter with amphibious and carrier forces operating from the Arabian Sea, consistent with the MH-60S fleet roles of logistics, search and rescue, utility lift, and armed shipboard support.
The available sources do not document MH-60S helicopters conducting airstrikes, raids, or casualty evacuation inside Afghanistan for this record. They support fielding by U.S. Navy helicopter sea combat squadrons as part of naval forces assigned to Operation Freedom's Sentinel and the 2021 Afghanistan drawdown.
Sources: HSC-21 Official History, NAVCENT Essex Integrated Operations, Navy CVW-3 Afghanistan Drawdown
