New NAVAIR avionics for USCG
Through its Program Management organisation (known as AIR-1.0), US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) - which offers ‘full life-cycle support of naval aviation aircraft, weapons and systems operated by [US] sailors and marines’ – has upgraded the interior avionics cockpit display in the US Coast Guard (USCG) aircraft CG1504, an HC-130H plane, using new hardware and software.
Through its Program Management organisation (known as AIR-1.0), US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) - which offers ‘full life-cycle support of naval aviation aircraft, weapons and systems operated by [US] sailors and marines’ – has upgraded the interior avionics cockpit display in the US Coast Guard (USCG) aircraft CG1504, an HC-130H plane, using new hardware and software.
The modernisation project has been active since 2008, involving the USCG, the Air Combat Electronics Office (PMA-209) of NAVAIR, the NAVAIR / USCG Co-ordination Office and defence industry officials, and is referred to as an Avionics 1 Upgrade (A1U). The modifications include changes to communication, navigation and surveillance and air traffic management (CNS/ATM) systems, along with new automatic flight control systems, and the arrival of the newly-modified HC-130H marks the beginning of a nine-month ground and flight-test programme scheduled to be performed at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, in co-ordination with the Navy Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 20 (VX 20).
The USCG’s goal, with the help of A1U, is to have its legacy aircraft flying until 2027, supporting the objectives of the Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security. “The Coast Guard needed to update its legacy HC-130H aircraft,” explained USCG Lt Commander Randy Meador, deputy project manager for HC-130Hs, “which are about 20 to 25 years old, with new state-of-the-art avionics and air traffic management systems.” The upgrades are also intended to improve aircrews’ situational awareness, increase flight safety, address issues surrounding obsolescence and increase mission effectiveness. “[They] will provide better integration and data exchange with the common operational picture,” continued Meador, “helping the USCG and DHS achieve maritime domain awareness.”
According to Captain Tracy Barkhimer, programme manager for PMA-209, the upgrades ‘will allow the Coast Guard to fly the airplane into areas with the most stringent air traffic management requirements, thereby increasing the reach and support of the Coast Guard’. Included in the modifications are a ‘one-of-a-kind’ instrument panel with six multifunctional displays, incorporating all the information provided by legacy analogue instruments – such as altimeters, artificial horizons and weather radar.
“It is rewarding to see the aircraft now fully modified and undergoing rigorous testing at Pax River,” commented Navy Captain Tom Popp, liaison officer for NAVAIR/USCG. “This is the result of hard work and co-operation by the Coast Guard’s aviation acquisition team, NAVAIR and industry.”