By Calvin Biesecker
The Coast Guard’s new Maritime Patrol Aircraft is already showing “great capability” in its early going after one of the aircraft provided on-scene command last Wednesday above the site where two Air Force F-15C fighter planes collided and then plunged into the Gulf of Mexico, a senior Coast Guard official said yesterday.
The search and rescue (SAR) mission was the first for the Coast Guard’s new HC-144 aircraft.
The HC-144A Ocean Sentry, one of three currently in the Coast Guard inventory, was on a training mission in the Gulf and was the closest air asset the service had available when it received word of the two F-15s being down. Once on site, the HC-144A took control of two other F-15 aircraft and an Air Force KC-135 tanker that were in the area, Vice Adm. Ronald Papp, the Coast Guard’s chief of staff, told the House Transportation and Infrastructure panel that oversees the Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard plans to acquire 36 HC-144s from Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS) as part of its Deepwater modernization program. ICGS, which is a joint venture between Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Northrop Grumman [NOC], acquires the aircraft from the Spanish division of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. and then does the missionization to meet Coast Guard requirements.
The upgrades to the aircraft, which are actually done by Lockheed Martin, include integration of an electro-optical and forward looking infrared system and a multi-mode radar for search capabilities. The aircraft also feature a roll-on, roll-off mission pallet that integrates with the search systems and improves communications interoperability.
However, in last week’s mission, the mission pallet wasn’t installed on the aircraft. As the HC-144 headed to the general area of the crash site, it identified several vessels in the area via its onboard Automatic Identification System (AIS), which is used to monitor boat traffic and once on scene assumed command of the situation and began searching the area while managing the three Air Force aircraft.
As the on scene controller, the HC-144 was responsible for managing the situation, directing aircraft deconfliction, coordinating with vessels in the area, communicating with authorities on land and maintaining an event log, a Coast Guard spokesman told Defense Daily yesterday.
Eventually the HC-144 crew spotted a parachute and life raft through an observation window that allows a spotter to easily look down to the water. Once the safety equipment was spotted in the water, using its AIS and a marine band radio, the HC-144 vectored a nearby fishing vessel to the spot. However, the vessel couldn’t locate a pilot. The aircraft continued its search and eventually spotted a pilot and directed the vessel to the new location, where it recovered the pilot. The pilot reported via the ship’s radio that he had collided with another F-15 pilot who he had last seen descending toward the water using his parachute.
Shortly after, the HC-144 was running low on fuel and left the area, turning its on scene command over to a Coast Guard HU-25 Falcon jet. Prior to leaving the area, the HC-144 commanded the three Air Force aircraft, two HU-25s, two HH-60Js and a small Coast Guard vessel.
Later during the rescue mission, one of the HH-60Js spotted and recovered the other pilot.