CGNR 2008 – the first HC-130J Super Hercules long range surveillance aircraft retrofitted with the Minotaur Mission System at the L3 Technologies Inc. Integrated Systems Platform Integration Division in Waco, Texas – departs for Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, Nov. 6, 2017. The aircraft is the Coast Guard’s third HC-130J outfitted with Minotaur. U.S. Coast Guard photo.

Coast Guard Accepts First HC-130J Retrofitted With Minotaur Under Missionization Contract

Nov. 7, 2017

The Coast Guard accepted CGNR 2008 – the first HC-130J Super Hercules long range surveillance aircraft retrofitted with the Minotaur Mission System Suite at the L3 Technologies Inc. Integrated Systems Platform Integration Division in Waco, Texas – Nov. 6.

Minotaur is government-owned and -operated mission system architecture that integrates imagery and data from multiple aircraft sensor streams, allowing operators to track targets and transmit information to other platforms and units. The Coast Guard is integrating the mission system across its HC-130J, HC-144 and C-27J fixed-wing aircraft.

CGNR 2008 is the first aircraft outfitted with the legacy mission system to undergo a retrofit in Waco, where a Coast Guard fleet integration team oversees Minotaur installation on the service’s HC-130Js. The aircraft entered the Minotaur installation process in January and is the Coast Guard’s third HC-130J outfitted with Minotaur. The others are CGNR 2003, which served as the Minotaur prototype, and CGNR 2009, which was outfitted with Minotaur following production.

CGNR 2008 will join six HC-130Js operating out of Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina: CGNR 2003, CGNR 2009 and four aircraft outfitted with the legacy mission system. Three additional HC-130Js are currently in Waco undergoing the integration process: two are undergoing retrofits from the legacy system; the third entered the integration process after production. One of the HC-130Js from Elizabeth City will enter the process for a retrofit in 2018. <

For more information: HC-130J program page and Minotaur program page