The US Coast Guard is modernizing and expanding its fleet of aerial and surface platforms: the service’s Lockheed Martin HC-130J aircraft are being modernized by defense company L3Harris, while the US-based shipyard Bollinger Shipyards is manufacturing a fleet of Fast Response Cutters. Moreover, the service has awarded shipyards contracts to build icebreakers.
On 4 February, L3Harris announced the delivery of the fourth modernized HC-130 aircraft, which was returned to the Coast Guard “ahead of schedule, arriving two months early as part of the Coast Guard’s HC-130J fleet expansion efforts.” The aircraft is being modernized via the Minotaur Mission System Suite (MSS+), which “fuses sensors, radar, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance equipment into a single operational baseline.”
The company spoke with Zona Militar about this ongoing project. An L3Harris spokesperson told ZM that “the current contract extends through March 2030,” but the company hopes to continue working with the US Coast Guard to maintain the modernized HC-130 fleet beyond that year. The company also noted other projects with the US Coast Guard, namely the “missionization and maintenance on other Coast Guard aircraft platforms.” The company declined to note how many aircraft will be modernized.
Several Latin American militaries operate Lockheed Martin’s C-130 Hercules family. Case in point, the company recently announced that the Mexican Air Force is the newest addition to the family of operators of the very C-130 Super Hercules. Argentina also acquired a couple of Hercules aircraft from the United States a couple of years ago.
L3Harris has previously modernized the Hercules fleet of a Latin American air force, and the company is confident that other operators will rely on the company for future modernization programs. “L3Harris provides systems integration, sensor technology, and lifecycle support that can be adapted to various mission requirements,” the company told ZM.
The US Coast Guard’s other ongoing program is the acquisition of a fleet of Fast Response Cutters (FRCs). The ships are produced by the US shipyard Bollinger Shipyards and are based on Damen’s Stan Patrol 4207 design. The newest ship, the USCGC Olivia Hooker, was commissioned in late January. The shipyard has delivered 61 FRCs and is under contract to build 67 vessels, with the final FRC previously scheduled for delivery in 2028; with the most recent award, the total program has increased to 77 vessels, Bollinger explained in a press release. Construction of the platforms will continue until the end of the decade.
The newest FRC is named after Dr. Olivia Juliette Hooker, the first African-American woman to serve in the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Fast Response Cutters can be used for a variety of missions, from coastal patrol to search-and-rescue at sea. The ships have a wide range; they measure 46.9 m in length, have a speed of around 28 knots, and operate a state-of-the-art C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) suite. There is no space for a helicopter, but the FRC can carry a 7.9 meter, over-the-horizon interceptor cutter boat.
More new equipment for the US Coast Guard is on the way as the service has reportedly awarded the shipyard Davie Defense a contract for the construction of five Arctic Security Cutters (ASCs). Three medium-sized Cutters will be built in the US and two in Finland. Two months earlier, in December 2025, the Coast Guard announced two contracts to build up to six ASC icebreakers. The builders will be Rauma Marine Constructions Oy of Rauma, Finland, and the aforementioned Bollinger Shipyards, located in Lockport, Louisiana.
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