Within the scope of the project, which was launched in the 1990s to meet the requirement of the Turkish Naval Forces for a new generation helicopter with Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Anti-Surface Unit Warfare (ASUW) and over-the-horizon detection/identification capabilities, a contract worth US$117 Million was signed between the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) and the American aircraft manufacturer Sikorsky in February 1997 to procure four S-70B-28 SeaHawk Helicopters. 

Then, the number of helicopters was increased to eight with some changes in the configuration. The First Batch (Lot-I) SeaHawk Procurement Project Contract for the purchase of eight S-70B-28 SeaHawk Helicopters was signed on June 19, 1998, and the helicopters were delivered between April 2002 and November 2002. However, one of the helicopters crashed into Sapanca Lake during a training flight on December 3, 2002, and two pilots died in the crash.