The Acquisitions Directorate (CG-9) is reporting that a Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) has been approved for the service’s MH-60Ts. This is intended to add 10,000 hours to the life of the aircraft and keep it viable into the mid 2030s when they will be replaced by a product of the Army managed “Future Vertical Lift” program.

Features claimed for the updated aircraft by CG-9 are expected to include:

• Common avionics architecture system of digital glass cockpit instruments similar to those installed on the Coast Guard’s fixed-wing aircraft
• Surface search radar and electro-optical/infrared sensors
• Engines standard with the Department of Defense’s H-60 fleet
• Five multifunction display screens
• Sensor and hoist cameras
• Integrated traffic collision avoidance system
• 7.62 mm machine gun for firing warning shots and a .50-caliber rifle for precise targeting, such as disabling engines on noncompliant go-fast vessels
• Standardized mission system components complementing capabilities and equipment installed on the Coast Guard’s upgraded MH-65 short range recovery helicopter