LATEST UPDATES

The Coast Guard on Sept. 18, 2025, contracted with L3 Harris Technologies Inc. for delivery of three AN/APY-11 multi-mode radar systems, valued at $13.9 million, to be installed on future HC-130Js during the Minotaur missionization process. 

The Coast Guard’s HC-130J fleet marked a major milestone on July 8, 2025, surpassing 100,000 flight hours since the first HC-130J was delivered to the service in 2003. Reaching 100,000 flight hours demonstrates the exceptional reliability and operational value of the HC-130J fleet. 

The Coast Guard accepted delivery of its 18th C-130J long range surveillance aircraft on Jan. 30, 2025, from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Marietta, Georgia. The aircraft was delivered in its baseline form; in March it will enter a year-long process to outfit it with the specialized equipment needed to conduct the Coast Guard’s varied missions. 

Video: HC-130H Departure Marks End of an Era

 

Left: The Rescue 21 tower in Hastings, Minnesota, provides emergency response coverage for part of the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers, south of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. Right: The projected coverage for the Hastings tower. U.S. Coast Guard photo.

Acquisition Update: Guard Accepts Rescue 21 In Upper Mississippi River

May 26, 2017

The Coast Guard conditionally accepted and began operating the Rescue 21 system in the Sector Upper Mississippi River Area of Responsibility May 2. This sector covers portions of the Mississippi, Illinois, Missouri and St. Croix rivers and extends across seven states: Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Kansas.

The Rescue 21 system provides improved search and rescue communications and supports digital-selective calling, which allows boaters with properly installed equipment to transmit an automated distress signal including vessel location and other information at the push of a button.

The Coast Guard plans to begin using the Rescue 21 systems in the Lower Mississippi River and Ohio Valley by the end of June, at which point the Rescue 21 system will be operational throughout the entire Western Rivers region, which includes the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio Rivers and their major tributaries. Rescue 21 program personnel are working with the Command, Control and Communications Engineering Center to ensure that the Western Rivers system transitions smoothly from acquisition to sustainment.

The Rescue 21 system has also been installed along the coastline of the continental United States, Hawaii and several U.S. territories. The system will also be completed along parts of the Alaskan coast by the end of 2017.

For more information: Rescue 21 program page