USCG receives eighth Minotaur missionised HC-130J
The US Coast Guard (USCG) has received its eighth HC-130J Super Hercules long range surveillance aircraft equipped with the Minotaur mission system suite.
Integration work was completed at L3 Technologies’ facility in Waco, Texas.
The aircraft, CGNR 2011, was originally delivered to the coast guard in its baseline configuration in 2017. It was outfitted with Minotaur software as well as coast guard-specific integrated radar, sensors and communication systems in a process called missionisation, after which the aircraft was re-designated as an HC-130J.
The Coast Guard currently has 15 HC-130J aircraft in either operational use or active production. The agency also plans to do a block upgrade for all its HC-130J aircraft.
The HC-130J fleet provides critical support to the US Department of Homeland Security partners as well as logistical support during routine coast guard operations. The aircraft is capable of serving as a C2 platform or as a surveillance platform to detect, classify and identify objects and share that information with operational forces.
More from Naval Warfare
-
Royal Navy welcomes mine-hunting mothership
RFA Stirling Castle, a 6,000-tonne vessel, will start operations later this year.
-
Royal Navy to receive DragonFire laser system
The UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) made the decision to accelerate the laser programme from the demonstrational stage to an operational laser weapon.
-
Royal Navy’s new Dreadnought SSBNs to be equipped with OSI’s ECPINS
The contracts between OSI Maritime Systems (OSI) and BAE Systems Submarines will encompass continued support for the Astute-class nuclear-powered submarines (SSN) and the future Dreadnought-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBN).
-
Frigate or corvette? The new surface combatant expanding Sweden’s strategic horizons
With the new Luleå-class vessel, the Royal Swedish Navy (RSwN) will have a class of modern capital ship that could provide a wide range of naval capabilities that it has not had before, contributing to the shaping of Sweden’s role in NATO and allowing it to perform new missions.
-
Northrop Grumman unveils Manta Ray UUV
The uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) prototype was built through a programme by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) and assembled in Northrop Grumman’s Annapolis facility.