, EDINBURGH, Scotland: The United States Coast Guard (USCG) has selected the Selex Galileo Seaspray 7500E AESA surveillance radar system for its HC-130H radar upgrade program. This follow on contract for the production element has been awarded after successful demonstration of this revolutionary technology.
The contract valued at US$32 million for this phase, is scheduled to run over the next four years. A total of 15 HC-130H aircraft will be upgraded to a new level of capability. The Seaspray 7500E electronically scanned array (ESCAN) radar, which operates using a dedicated multi station display suite and surveillance/SAR, will be the primary sensor on the USCG’s front line long range maritime surveillance aircraft.
Selex Galileo’s AESA radar was competitively selected by the USCG in 2005, as a state of the art, high performance primary sensor, crucial to their evolving mission as a highly reliable and fully integrated mission system. The Seaspray 7500E radar provides the USCG with a comprehensive suite of surveillance and imaging modes, including a number of unique features that the AESA technology offers. The system includes a comprehensive Human Machine Interface (HMI) implemented on large format, and smart, touch screen displays on the radar’s Ethernet-based ‘Local Area Network’ (LAN). This enables multiple operators to use different modes and display formats simultaneously at different stations around the aircraft.
US Coast Guard HC-130H aircraft are often deployed on short notice and in extreme weather conditions to execute search and rescue, law enforcement, humanitarian relief, environmental protection and maritime resource management. These obligations are central to the Maritime Domain Awareness Initiative for protecting major ports, coast lines and the Great Lakes. The US Coast Guard is the lead agency in the US Department of Homeland Security; as such its air assets play a critical role in the Global War on Terrorism.
The Seaspray radar system will meet the USCG’s challenging requirement for a sensor system able to detect small targets at sea in severe weather conditions, depict harmful oil spills, track ice flows, provide en route weather avoidance, enable precise imaging and ground mapping capabilities in a highly integrated airborne mission package.
Manufacture, configuration management training and engineering support of the radar systems, will be carried out by Selex Galileo at its primary operating site in Edinburgh, Scotland. Installation, kit fabrication, and aircraft modification will be provided by Selex S&AS US Inc and Pegasus International Inc at Stennis International Airport near Kiln, Mississippi.
R. Scott Rettig, Chairman & CEO, Selex Sensors & Airborne Systems (S&AS) US Inc said, “We are honored to be part of this USCG team and in particular to lead the integration effort with Pegasus International at our aircraft modification and integration facility in Kiln, Mississippi.”
Selex Sensors and Airborne Systems US Inc is registered in Delaware, headquartered in Arlington Virginia, and has operations in Florida, Georgia, Virginia and New York. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Selex Galileo in the UK.
Selex Sensors and Airborne Systems ltd and Galileo Avionica have begun to operate internationally as a single company, within Finmeccanica, known as Selex Galileo. Selex Galileo provides world class capabilities in surveillance, protection, tracking, targeting, avionics and imaging systems.
Selex Galileo
