Minotaur Mission System

Minotaur workstations, like the one shown above on the HC-130J, offer improved integration and presentation of video, flight data and other sensor information.

The Coast Guard is outfitting its new fixed-wing surveillance aircraft fleet with Minotaur mission system architecture. Minotaur incorporates sensors; radar; and command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment and enables aircrews to gather and process surveillance information that can be transmitted to other platforms and units during flight. The system was originally developed by the Navy and is used across multiple Defense and Homeland Security department platforms.

Why this program?

Minotaur integration was driven by obsolescence concerns: the legacy processors could not run the updated systems needed for optimal mission execution. Compared to these, Minotaur offers significant increases in speed and memory capability. The system is open-architecture and government-owned, so the Coast Guard has more control over upgrades and can implement them more affordably. The Coast Guard is also taking advantage of Department of Defense logistics, including maintenance, training and spare parts, to keep life cycle costs down.

How are the upgrades implemented?

The Coast Guard formally decided to integrate Minotaur into the HC-130J and HC-144 fleets in September 2013. Integration of the system into Customs and Border Protection and Navy maritime patrol aircraft and unmanned aircraft systems was already underway at that time.

The Coast Guard has worked with Naval Air Systems Command to develop Minotaur to meet Coast Guard mission requirements, and the Coast Guard’s Minotaur Mission System Integration Lab at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, is leading the development and integration work. Prototype installation for all aircraft began at Patuxent River.

	HC-130J Super Hercules long range surveillance aircraft The first aircraft in the Coast Guard fleet outfitted with Minotaur, CGNR 2003, was inducted into the mission system modification process in July 2015 and began test flights in June 2016. CGNR 2003 was delivered to the fleet in June 2017. The aircraft is based out of Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, where it is currently used to train new mission system operators. It completed its first search and rescue case with Minotaur Aug. 7, 2017. The Coast Guard oversees Minotaur integration on the aircraft at L3 Technologies Integrated Systems Platform Integration Division in Waco, Texas.
	HC-144 Ocean Sentry medium range surveillance aircraft HC-144 Minotaur production is underway at the Aviation Logistics Center in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The first Minotaur HC-144, CGNR 2307, was delivered to the fleet in July 2017; it is now located at Air Station Miami as the first Minotaur-equipped aircraft at that unit. Both the Aviation Training Center in Mobile, Alabama, and Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas, have their full complement of HC-144Bs equipped with Minotaur. To date, nine HC-144 aircraft have undergone Minotaur integration and received Ocean Sentry Refresh upgrades, which update the aircraft’s avionics.
	C-27J Spartan medium range surveillance aircraft The service is also basing the C-27J missionization package on the Minotaur mission system. The first Spartan entered the missionization process at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in September 2017; completion of the prototype is anticipated by mid-2021.