The U.S. Coast Guard: Protecting our Shores from the Sea and the Sky

FlightwaveBlog

Today we celebrate and honor the United States Coast Guard for their maritime service and commitment to the safety of our nation. The Coast Guard is one of our five national military services, dedicated to enforcing maritime laws, saving lives at sea, and defending our nation’s waterways and coastlines. The Coast Guard has 11 official missions that range from waterway security to search and rescue.

Over the past few years, the US Coast Guard have been improving their capabilities by incorporating UAS systems to their fleets. The addition of UAS systems to Coast Guard operations has increased maritime surveillance opportunities and has kept the honorable men and women who serve, safe.

The Coast Guard works tirelessly to disrupt illegal drug and human trafficking, as contraband is passed through a transit zone that spans 7 million square miles from the Caribbean Sea to the eastern Pacific Ocean. Constant surveillance and reconnaissance are made possible through real-time UAS imagery. This capability is significant as it drastically expands the ability to spot and stop international traffickers before they reach our shores.

The Coast Guard has made significant investments to equip their entire fleet of National Security Cutters (NSCs), with advanced UAS systems. The Coast Guard is looking to expand its security and surveillance methods with the use of this technology to save our waterways and protect our people. The UAS division chief on the Office of Aviation Forces for the Coast Guard, Cmdd. Daniel Broadhurst says, “The UAS has already proven itself to be a transformational technology…and the deployment of this capability to the entirety of the NSC fleet is an incredibly important first step in realizing the Coast Guard’s vision of fleet-wide UAS implementation.”

We would like to thank the 42,000 men and women who actively serve in the Coast Guard and all who have served in the past. We are proud that UAS technology can be used as a tool to make the Coast Guard’s job safer and more efficient as they work every day to protect this nation.