Having been unable to achieve any follow-on orders for the type, Kaman decided in the late 1960s to terminate production following the completion of the delivery of 184 H-2s to the U.S. Navy. However, in 1971, production was restarted by Kaman in order to manufacture an improved variant of the helicopter, designated as the "SH-2F". A significant factor in the reopening of the production line was that the Navy's Sikorsky SH-60 Sea Hawk, which was both newer and more capable in anti-submarine operations, had been determined to be too large to allow it to be safely operated from the smaller flight decks present upon the older frigates then in service.