EADS North America’s major role in the multi-billion dollar U.S. Coast Guard Deepwater modernization program was underscored by the official presentation today of the service’s first HC-235A maritime patrol aircraft.
Painted in the Coast Guard’s distinctive red and white color scheme, the no. 1 HC-235A was unveiled to an audience of military and government officials, industry executives and international journalists at the EADS CASA assembly plant in Seville, Spain.
Three HC-235As have been ordered from EADS CASA, with the Deepwater program calling for 36 of these maritime patrol aircraft to be acquired through 2017.
Deepwater is a vital program for America’s homeland security, covering a multi-year effort to modernize and replace the Coast Guard’s aging ships and aircraft, as well as improving systems for logistics and command and control. It is managed by Integrated Coast Guard Systems – an industry joint venture that has contracted with EADS for the HC-235 aircraft, as well as for upgrading the Coast Guard’s entire fleet of 96 EADS Eurocopter HH-65 Dolphin helicopters to the HH-65C configuration.
To date, Integrated Coast Guard Systems has delivered 24 of the modernized HH-65C helicopters to the Coast Guard, using re-engining kits supplied by EADS North America’s American Eurocopter business unit. These rotary-wing aircraft are undergoing the upgrade process on conversion lines: one at the Coast Guard’s Aircraft and Supply Center in Elizabeth City, North Carolina; and the other at American Eurocopter’s manufacturing and assembly facility in Columbus, Mississippi.
“Aircraft such as the HC-235 and HH-65C will give new capabilities and a new ‘punch’ to help the men and women who undertake the Coast Guard’s vital missions,” explained Dr. Leo S. Mackay, Jr., who is president of Integrated Coast Guard Systems. “Today’s milestone with the HC-235 is particularly important, as it marks the first rollout of a totally new Deepwater asset.”
Developed directly from the CN-235/C-295 family of multi-role airlifters, the HC-235 will handle a range of missions in Coast Guard service, including search and rescue, drug interdiction, marine environmental control and military readiness – as well as the transport of cargo, personnel and stretcher patients.
“We can not perform our expanded homeland security missions without modern, up-to-date equipment, and we’re looking forward to having the HC-235 in the fleet because it will help us be more efficient and effective,” said Vice Admiral Terry M. Cross, the U.S. Coast Guard’s Vice Commandant. VADM Cross serves as the Coast Guard’s second in command and is its Agency Acquisition Executive.
He noted that all three industrial teams originally competing for the overall Deepwater program contract had selected the CN-235 as their candidate for the Coast Guard’s new medium-range maritime patrol aircraft. “The CN-235 was the clear choice because it is a very versatile aircraft that can carry out a wide variety of missions,” VADM Cross told international journalists attending today’s rollout ceremony.
The CN-235 and C-295 also are being offered for the U.S. Army/Air Force Joint Cargo Aircraft mission requirement by Team JCA – the joint teaming arrangement of Raytheon and EADS CASA North America.
“The fact that CN-235s will serve with the U.S. Coast Guard is an important endorsement of the CN-235/C-295 airlifter family by a U.S. government customer with a vital role in America’s homeland security,” explained José Morales, the president of EADS CASA North America. “The CN-235 was selected for Coast Guard missions for reasons that also are vital to the Army/Air Force JCA program: mission flexibility, operational effectiveness, and the optimized cost of ownership.”
Deliveries of HC-235As to the U.S. Coast Guard are scheduled to begin in the spring of 2007, with the first aircraft going to the service’s Aviation Training Center in Mobile, Alabama. EADS CASA North America has built its own 13,000 sq. ft. sq. customer service and training facility adjacent to this Coast Guard site at Mobile Regional Airport to support the HC-235A during delivery and in-service operation.
