USCG orders 14th C-130J aircraft
Lockheed Martin has received a contract option worth approximately $63.5 million from the US Air Force for the production of a C-130J Super Hercules to be configured as a long range surveillance aircraft for the US Coast Guard (USCG), it was announced on 15 September.
This will be the 14th of the USCG’s planned 22 C-130Js. The aircraft is scheduled to be delivered in April 2020.
This award is part of a multi-year procurement contract that includes an option for the USCG to acquire a 15th C-130J.
The USCG has received ten C-130J aircraft to date. Four HC-130Js are operating out of Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and are equipped with legacy mission system suite capabilities that will be upgraded to the Minotaur mission system suite.
A fifth aircraft, the HC-130J Minotaur prototype, was delivered to the air station in June.
Production of 11-13 is currently ongoing, with delivery of base configuration aircraft expected in 2018 and 2019, before they enter the Minotaur integration process.
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