SEVENTH HC-144A DELIVERED TO THE U.S. COAST GUARD
April 10, 2009
The U.S. Coast Guard has taken delivery of its seventh EADS CASA-built HC144A Ocean Sentry, which was formally accepted at the company’s Seville, Spain production facility.
This multi-role maritime patrol aircraft will remain in Spain through May, enabling EADS CASA to continue providing training for U.S. Coast Guard crews as the service builds up its HC144A fleet.
The no. 7 Ocean Sentry will then be ferried to the United States, arriving at the Coast Guard Aviation Logistics Center in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. An eighth HC-144A also is scheduled to arrive at the center in May, following its formal acceptance by the Coast Guard later this month.
The HC144A’s acquisition is part of the Coast Guard’s Deepwater Major Acquisition Program, with these aircraft replacing an aging fleet of HU-25 Falcon jets. Derived from EADS CASA’s CN235 tactical airlifter, the Ocean Sentry will significantly enhance Coast Guard aircrews’ mission execution capability.
The twin-engine turboprop aircraft will perform a full range of missions, including homeland security, search and rescue (SAR), marine environmental protection, national defense, international ice patrol missions, and the enforcement of laws and treaties – including illegal drug interdiction and the enforcement of domestic and international fisheries laws.
The aircraft has a surface search radar, an electro-optical/infrared system, an Automatic Identification System for vessels, direction-finding equipment, and electronic surveillance measures – all integrated by EADS CASA. The Ocean Sentry’s hydraulic-operated rear ramp provides added operational capability, and enables the aircraft’s large cargo bay to accept a fully-equipped roll-on/roll-off mission system pallet.
The Coast Guard is basing its initial operational HC144A unit at Mobile, Alabama, which is home to the service’s aviation training center, as well as an operational air station. All future pilot training is planned to transition from Seville to Mobile in May.
The Coast Guard expects to build up a fleet of 36 fully missionized HC144As by 2020.
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