The Coast Guard on Monday issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for up to nine HC-144A Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA), marking the opening of a new competition for the patrol aircraft, which currently are integrated and delivered by Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS).

The Coast Guard will continue to rely on the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) to provide its CN235-300M as the airframe for the HC-144 Ocean Sentry MPA. ICGS partner Lockheed Martin [LMT] is currently responsible for the systems and mission integration of the HC-144A, eight of which have been delivered to the Coast Guard.

Responses to the RFP are due by June 2. The service expects to buy at least two aircraft in the base-year of the new contract and up to nine over five years.

Currently, an EADS division in Spain supplies the CN-235 to ICGS, which had been the Coast Guard’s lead systems integrator for the Deepwater modernization effort. However, the Coast Guard during the past few years has taken over responsibility for directly managing the acquisitions within Deepwater.

The HC-144A is a twin-turboprop, medium-range surveillance aircraft that can be reconfigured by ground crews from maritime patrol, to medical evacuation, to passenger or freight transport. As the systems integrator, Lockheed Martin has developed roll-on, roll-off mission system pallets that are installed in the aircraft so that the crew can interpret and respond to the information and data from the onboard sensors and communications. The mission system pallets also allow for the transmission and receipt of classified and unclassified information to assure collaboration during missions.

Last December, the Coast Guard began conducting a market survey for sources that could integrate the HC-144A aircraft in anticipation of the release of the RFP (Defense Daily, Jan. 7).

So far, 11 aircraft have been ordered of a planned buy of 36. The purchase of up to nine aircraft under the new RFP would be part of an extended Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) run of the planes. The program remains in LRIP due the need to complete operational test and evaluation (Defense Daily, Sept. 14, 2009). Continuing with LRIP will prevent a production break while OT&E occurs.

ICGS is a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman [NOC].