USCG receives tenth C-130J Super Hercules
The US Coast Guard (USCG) has accepted delivery of its tenth C-130J Super Hercules long range surveillance aircraft at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics' Greenville, South Carolina, facility, the USCG announced on 3 March.
The aircraft has since been delivered in its baseline configuration to the L3 Technologies Integrated Systems Platform Integration Division to undergo installation of the Minotaur mission system suite. The suite includes new radar, sensor and communications systems, after which the aircraft are re-designated as HC-130J.
Of the nine HC-130Js delivered, six are operating with the legacy mission system out of Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina. One is serving as the Minotaur mission system suite prototype and has undergone in-flight testing of the system, and a further two have entered the Minotaur mission system suite modification programme.
The 11th C-130J is under production at Lockheed Martin's Marietta, Georgia, facility, while the 12th and 13th C-130Js are under contract, with delivery of one base configuration aircraft expected in 2018 and two in 2019.
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