The Coast Guard accepted delivery of its 10th HC-144B Ocean Sentry medium range surveillance aircraft outfitted with both the Ocean Sentry Refresh (OSR) modifications and the Minotaur mission system July 16. Modifications to CGNR 2302 were completed at the Aviation Logistics Center in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The aircraft will be based at Air Station Miami.
The OSR project upgrades the aircraft with a new flight management system, which manages communication control, navigation and equipment monitoring. After the OSR upgrade is completed, each aircraft is redesignated as an HC-144B.
Following delivery of the Coast Guard’s 10th HC-144B to Air Station Miami, CGNR 2309 was transferred from Miami to the Aviation Logistics Center in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, where it will undergo modifications including Minotaur mission system integration. The modification process takes nearly a year to complete. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)
Minotaur integrates installed sensors and radar and provides dramatically improved data fusion as well as information processing and sharing capabilities.
Completion of missionization and upgrade of an 11th HC-144 is scheduled for August 2021. The service plans to upgrade each of the service’s 18 HC-144s by 2024.