Coast Guard Reaping C4ISR Benefits
Recent NSC, HC-130J, HC-144A successes highlight
how Lockheed Martin’s C4ISR systems help Coast Guard
The HC-144 aircraft’s forward-looking radar – part of the C4ISR system developed by Lockheed Martin – enabled the Coast Guard aircrew to monitor ground activity and provide real-time imagery to Army’ Special Forces during a joint training exercise in November.
As an integral part of its recapitalization effort, the Coast Guard’s initial C4ISR efforts are focusing on its National Security Cutter (NSC) and the HC-130J and HC-144A aircraft. In 2011, the Coast Guard continued to reap the benefits of their investment in C4ISR, short for Command, Control, Communication, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance.
Throughout the year, the Coast Guard relied on those C4ISR systems – developed by Lockheed Martin – to help accomplish its many missions. The following examples highlight just some of the successes.
- Patrolling off the Panamanian coast this fall, the USCGC Bertholf, the nation’s first NSC, used its forward-looking radar, part of the C4ISR system commonly known as FLIR, to thwart drug smugglers and seize nine bales of cocaine.
- In February off the New Jersey coast, an HC-130J’s C4ISR system gathered evidence that led to the conviction of scallopers illegally fishing in a closed area, placed off limits to help the recovery of Hudson Canyon’s scallop population. This was one of four successful prosecutions of vessels illegally fishing. The HC-130J also participated in Operation Kurukuru 2011, an international maritime surveillance operation coordinated by the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency to counter illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing.
- The HC-144 served as an ideal platform for a joint exercise in November between the Coast Guard and the Army’s 7th Special Forces Group. The medium surveillance aircraft’s FLIR enabled the aircrew to monitor “insurgents” on the ground and provide real-time imagery to the Army’s operational commanders.
“Having sensors on board vessels and aircraft are critical for detection…” said Captain John Wood, the Coast Guard Acquisition Directorate’s C4ISR program manager in a September Coast Guard Forum article. “Without those sensors and the processors and the communications that C4ISR provides, you’re looking aimlessly across the water.”
Lockheed Martin develops and integrates the C4ISR systems for the Coast Guard’s aviation and NSC assets. The C4ISR system’s interoperability helps ensure that the Coast Guard’s air and sea assets can work with other agencies and organizations.
