By Calvin Biesecker
The Coast Guard this month is scheduled to seek a commitment from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for approval to buy up to nine HC-144A Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA), all within the planned buy of 36 aircraft, in order to prevent a looming production break due to a pending operational test phase that has been sandwiched in the middle of the procurement.
The Coast Guard so far has purchased eight of the CASA-built HC-144A patrol planes and has a contract in place to buy three more early next year using a combination of FY ’09 and FY ’10 funds, Rear Adm. Ron Rabago, assistant commandant for Acquisition, said at a media roundtable last Thursday. CASA is a business of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co.
The MPA aircraft that have been acquired and are under contract are being purchased as part of low-rate initial production (LRIP). The upcoming ADE 2B would permit the purchase of nine more aircraft under an extended LRIP buy as well as prevent a production break while operational test and evaluation of the HC-144s is performed, a Coast Guard spokeswoman told Defense Daily on Friday.
The Coast Guard had planned to make a decision on full-rate production of the HC-144s next month but that event has been postponed until the fourth quarter of FY ’12. The OT&E phase is slated to begin in the fourth quarter of FY ’11 and last about a year. The full-rate production decision will be ADE 3 and will be part of a DHS Acquisition Review Board (ARB) meeting.
The aircraft that will be used in OT&E are the three that are under contract for delivery early next year. Those aircraft will be deployed to the Coast Guard Air Station in Miami. The eight HC-144s in the inventory are based at an Air Station in Mobile, Ala. Those aircraft have been used in limited operations but this week will begin full-scale operations.
The Government Accountability Office in July said that DHS wanted the HC-144 test plan reworked before testing begins (Defense Daily, July 15). That same report said the full-rate production decision was still slated for October.
There is some urgency in getting the HC-144 fleet built up. That’s because the aircraft they will be replacing, the HU-25 Falcon, are nearing the end of their useful life. Rabago said the Coast Guard expects to begin grounding Falcon’s within the next two years.
The Coast Guard spokeswoman said the service hopes to buy the nine HC-144s subject to the availability of funds. If all nine aircraft are purchased, that would mean 20 of the planned buy of 26 planes would be done under LRIP.
While CASA builds the HC-144s, the current Coast Guard contract for the aircraft is with the joint venture Integrated Coast Guard Systems, which consists of Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Northrop Grumman [NOC]. The aircraft are actually delivered to Lockheed Martin, which has the responsibility of finishing them before final delivery to the Coast Guard.
DHS restructured and bolstered its oversight of its acquisition process late last year, instituting the Acquisition Review Board meetings as an opportunity for high-level checks at key program milestones (Defense Daily, Jan. 9). The result appears to be a more deliberate approach to how its various operating components and agencies develop and purchase systems and equipment. This has been evidenced in programs such as Customs and Border Protection’s Secure Border Initiative technology effort, the Coast Guard’s Deepwater modernization, of which the HC-144 is one of more than a dozen projects, and others.