Coast Guard Accepts New HC-144A Aircraft

The Coast Guard’s aviation fleet received another boost Jan. 16 with the delivery of an HC-144A Ocean Sentry Maritime Patrol Aircraft. It will be based out of Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas, later this year, according to the service.

To date, the service has received 16 of the aircraft from the Airbus Military production facility in Seville, Spain. The other aircraft are operating at Coast Guard Air Stations in Cape Cod, Mass., Mobile, Ala., and Miami.

When the Coast Guard began its recapitalization program more than a decade ago, the plan was to build 36 of the planes. That number now is in doubt.

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