The Coast Guard’s HC-130J Super Hercules long range surveillance aircraft provide heavy air transport and long-range maritime patrol capability. Each aircraft is capable of serving as an on-scene command and control platform or as a surveillance platform with the means to detect, classify and identify objects and share that information with operational forces.
The Coast Guard is acquiring a fleet of 22 new, fully missionized HC-130J aircraft to replace the capability of its legacy HC-130Hs.
Why this program?
The HC-130J has a more advanced engine and propellers, which provide a 20 percent increase in speed and altitude, and a 40 percent increase in range over the HC-130H. The new aircraft also features state-of-the-market avionics, including all-glass cockpit displays and improved navigation equipment. The HC-130J’s suite of command, control, communication, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C5ISR) equipment helps to extend the fleet’s mission capabilities.
The Coast Guard is integrating Minotaur mission system architecture into its fixed-wing aircraft. Missionization includes post-production modification of new C-130J aircraft to incorporate the specialized equipment necessary to carry out Coast Guard missions. All aircraft with the legacy mission system have completed Minotaur retrofits, and all new aircraft are Minotaur missionized before they are delivered to the fleet.
The Coast Guard has 16 HC-130Js in its operational fleet. Under production:
| Status |
Aircraft |
Location |
| Undergoing missionization from baseline C-130J configuration |
CGNR 2017 |
Waco, Texas
(L3Harris) |
| On order |
CGNR 2018, CGNR 2019 |
Marietta, Georgia
(Lockheed Martin Aeronautics) |