- L3Harris holds the incumbent contract, awarded in 2015 at $151.9 million
- The work will cover four aircraft, three for USCG and one for CBP
- Solicitation is estimated for July 2027, with award anticipated in the third quarter of fiscal 2028
The U.S. Coast Guard has forecast a follow-on requirement worth more than $100 million for installing government-owned mission systems on new production C-130J aircraft.
The service published the entry Wednesday on the Department of Homeland Security’s acquisition planning forecast system, listing L3Harris as the incumbent. A solicitation is estimated for July 12, 2027, with award anticipated in the third quarter of fiscal 2028 and performance running through April 2, 2038.
The work is a joint requirement with Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations.
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What Does HC-130J Missionization Involve?
The process will convert baseline C-130J airframes into a common HC-130J configuration by installing the Minotaur Mission System Suite, along with radar, sensors and communications equipment.
The resulting aircraft will support the Coast Guard’s long-range surveillance program and CBP’s extended border foreign operations surveillance program.
The contractor will install components as specified in a common government-owned technical data package, incorporating engineering change proposals and time compliance technical orders. The forecast contemplates optional scope for emerging requirements and for addressing diminishing manufacturing sources and material shortages.
The base requirement covers four aircraft, three for the Coast Guard and one for CBP, with options for additional aircraft.
What Is the Minotaur System?
Minotaur is a government-owned, open-architecture mission system. It combines radar, sensors, and command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment into a single baseline, allowing aircrews to collect and process surveillance data in flight and pass it to other platforms in real time.
Before the Coast Guard standardized on it, HC-130J aircraft ran separate platform-specific sensor systems with limited ability to share information off the aircraft.
The missionized configuration carries an electro-optical and infrared sensor turret and a belly-mounted 360-degree multi-mode surface search radar. The aircraft received a Block 8.1 upgrade covering approach and landing systems, expanded diagnostics and civil GPS.
What Is the HC-130J?
The HC-130J is the long-range search-and-rescue variant of the C-130J and serves as a command-and-control or surveillance platform. It cruises at 320 knots with a range of 4,900 nautical miles and endurance beyond 20 hours. In addition to search and rescue, the aircraft is used for drug and migrant interdiction, law enforcement, and cargo and personnel transport.
When Was the HC-130J Missionization Contract Awarded?
L3Harris was awarded the firm-fixed-price contract for HC-130J missionization in September 2015, valued at $151.9 million. The contract ran through January 2024.
The company executed missionization at its Waco facility, where the Coast Guard has taken delivery of successive aircraft. The service accepted its 18th fully missionized HC-130J in February and its 19th from Lockheed Martin in April.
The Coast Guard operates the HC-130J from air stations at Elizabeth City, North Carolina; Kodiak, Alaska; and Barbers Point, Hawaii, and is expanding aircraft operations to Sacramento, California. It has appropriations for 25 aircraft in total.
