New CG planes closer to entering fleet

[unhappycamper]

New CG planes closer to entering fleet
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Oct 11, 2007 15:12:28 EDT

After more than four years, the Coast Guard’s six HC-130Js are approaching becoming fully operational.

Deepwater contractor Lockheed Martin, Inc., announced that a fully equipped HC-130J rolled out of a Greenville, S.C., hangar on Oct. 1 and is undergoing ground and system integration testing.

Flight testing is scheduled for December, and delivery is expected in February 2008, according to information provided by Lockheed Martin and Integrated Coast Guard Systems, the primary contractor on the Coast Guard’s Deepwater modernization program.

Under a contract awarded in 2003, Lockheed Martin is to install interoperable electronics systems on the six aircraft. The new C4ISR packages ensure that the aircraft meet the Coast Guard’s operational requirements for long-range surveillance. The rollout marks another milestone in the brief but problematic history of the service’s HC-130Js.

~snip~

“We look forward to proving this unprecedented capability on the HC-130J and then getting it to our operational commanders,” said Capt. Mike Emerson, the Coast Guard’s chief of aviation forces.

The aircraft modifications include installation of a belly-mounted surface-search radar, a nose-mounted electro-optical infrared sensor, a flight deck mission operator station and a mission integrated communication system.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/10/coastguard_new_hercules_071011w/



uhc comment: The YC-130 is a rugged airframe that first flew on August 23, 1954.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-130

[DCKit]

1. All because Al Queda has their own fleet I suppose? nt

[NYVet]

2. Actually, the planes are used for SAR.

finding boats and rescue rafts in Alaska and other areas is one of the major functions of the planes.