The Coast Guard on Tuesday retired the last of its HU-25 Guardian fixed-wing surveillance aircraft, which entered service in 1982 and 1983 to perform a range of missions.
The HU-25, based on France’s Dassault Aviation’s Falcon 20 business jet, was used for search and rescue, migrant and drug interdiction and other law enforcement missions, marine environmental protection, and military readiness. The aircraft are being replaced by the HC-144A Ocean Sentry maritime patrol aircraft, which are supplied by a division of Europe’s Airbus Group.
The Coast Guard acquired 41 of the aircraft, outfitting them into three models with different radars, cameras and tactical workstations.
The final aircraft was retired at Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas.