May 6, 2020 —
The Coast Guard accepts its 14th C-130J from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Marietta, Georgia, on April 27, 2020. CGNR 2014 will next be outfitted with Minotaur software as well as Coast Guard-specific integrated radar, sensors and communication systems in a process called missionization. Photo by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.
The Coast Guard accepted its 14th C-130J Super Hercules long range surveillance aircraft from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics’ Marietta, Georgia, facility April 27, 2020.
The aircraft was delivered in its baseline configuration and will be used for component certification testing before it is inducted into the Minotaur mission system suite modification program at L3Harris ISR Systems in Waco, Texas, May 15. The program will outfit CGNR 2014 with Minotaur software and Coast Guard-specific integrated radar, sensors and communication systems in a process called missionization, after which the aircraft will be redesignated as an HC-130J. A Block 8.1 upgrade adding advanced capabilities including enhanced inter-communication systems, enhanced approach and landing systems, expanded diagnostics, civil GPS and additional covert lighting will also be completed.
The Coast Guard currently has 17 HC-130J aircraft in either operational use or active production. In addition to continued Minotaur missionization efforts on new aircraft, the service has plans to complete the block upgrade on all its HC-130J aircraft.
The service’s fleet of HC-130Js is the Department of Homeland Security’s largest airlift asset and carries out many Coast Guard missions, including search and rescue, drug and migrant interdiction, cargo and personnel transport, and maritime stewardship. The aircraft is capable of serving as an on-scene command and control platform or as a surveillance platform with the means to detect, classify and identify objects and share that information with operational forces.
For more information: HC-130J program page and Minotaur program page