The head of the Coast Guard said Tuesday he’ll devote scarce acquisition dollars towards ships since the service is “good” on the aircraft side.
Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert Papp said he has no unfunded wishlist for aircraft though his fiscal year 2015 budget request focuses acquisition dollars on ships. Papp said the Coast Guard avoids having to buy medium range aircraft over the next few years with the addition of 14, or what he called “a half-billion dollars-worth,” of C-27J cargo jets from the Air Force. Papp also said his fleet of helicopters is in good shape “for now” and the Coast Guard’s C-130Js are being replaced by newer C-130J models, so he’s good.
“Not great, I want to make that emphasis,” Papp told reporters at a Defense Writers Group breakfast in downtown Washington. “But we’re good.”
Papp said he expects the C-27Js to be operational by FY ’16, though he didn’t know exactly when because the service doesn’t have trained pilots at the moment. Papp said, yes, it’s probably not that difficult to go from flying C-130s, which he said have similar engines and avionics, but there are peculiarities that pilots have to be trained in and proficient. Though there are degrees of mission-ization, Papp said the Coast Guard is capable of using the C-27Js right now.
Congress provided enough money in the FY ’14 budget, Papp said, to allow the Coast Guard to stand up a C-27J project office and put a staff together. Papp said, initially, the Coast Guard won’t have to do much more than paint them because the C-27J has a good surface search radar, but he said the service will, ultimately, want to put a sensor package in its new C-27Js, similar to what it has in its HC-144s and C-130s. Papp said that will be included in future budget requests.
“We can put that aircraft to work almost immediately after we get people trained up on it,” Papp said.
Papp said the Air Force had 21 C-27Js it wanted to transfer out due to excess inventory. Facing a need for medium-range, fixed-wing aircraft, Papp said the Coast Guard originally awarded a contract to Airbus Group for HC-144s due to lower lifecycle costs than what the C-27Js provided. After starting the process of buying up to 36 HC-144s, the Air Force offered up its 21 C-27s, which Papp said the Coast Guard jumped upon.
After negotiations with the U.S. Forest Service, which also wanted some of the C-27Js, the Coast Guard ended up receiving 14 C-27Js while the Forest Service received seven of the Coast Guard’s C-130Js to be overhauled by the Air Force. U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), who also wanted some of the C-27Js, will get seven. Papp said the 14 C-27Js will be enough for the Coast Guard to outfit three air stations.
Due to the influx of new aircraft, Papp said the Coast Guard is developing an aviation plan. He said the Coast Guard currently has 18 HC-144s, which it will likely stay at. The service also needs to figure out where to distribute the C-27Js and the C-130Js, he said.
“I think we have a rough idea on how we’ll lay those down,” Papp said. “But we don’t have the specifics right now. Yes, we’ll fully employ (C-27Js). We’re delighted to get them from the Air Force.”
C-27Js are developed by Alenia Aermacchi, a division of Finmecannica.