Iceberg Reconnaissance 

 and Communications 



During the 1996 Ice Patrol year, 103 air- 

 craft sorties were flown in support of IIP. Of 

 these, 46 were transit flights to St. John's, 

 Newfoundland, MP's base of operations since 

 1989, and 48 were ice observation flights 

 made to locate the southwestern, southern, 

 and southeastern limits of icebergs. Seven 

 logistics flights were required to support and 

 maintain the patrol aircraft. Tables 4 and 5 

 show aircraft use for the 1996 ice year. In- 

 cluded in the total, but not shown in theTables, 

 are 2 sorties totaling 17.1 hours for Search 

 and Rescue. 



MP's aerial ice reconnaissance was con- 

 ducted with SLAR- and FLAR-equipped U.S. 

 Coast Guard HC-130H aircraft. No HU-25B 

 aircraft were used in 1996. The HC-130H air- 

 craft used on Ice Patrol are based at Coast 

 Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Caro- 

 lina. The HU-25B aircraft available for Ice Pa- 



trol use are stationed at Air Station Corpus 

 Christi, Texas. 



This was the fourth operational year for 

 the FLAR. Analysis of the SLAR/FLAR com- 

 bination from 1993 and 1994 allowed IIP to 

 increase search track spacing from 25 nauti- 

 cal miles (NM) to 30NM in 1995, resulting in a 

 20% increase in area covered without increas- 

 ing trackline miles flown. 



IIP schedules aerial iceberg surveys ev- 

 ery other week rather than every week. This 

 is due to the ability of the SLAR and FLAR to 

 detect and differentiate icebergs in all weather, 

 combined with use of the iceberg drift and 

 deterioration computer model to track icebergs 

 in-between sightings. 



The HC-130H 'Hercules' aircraft has been 

 the primary platform for Ice Patrol aerial re- 

 connaissance since 1963, while the HU-25B 



Table 4 

 Aircraft Usage During the 1996 Ice Year 



Sorties 



Transit Patrol Research Logistics 



46 48 7 



Flight Hours 



Ik 



Total 

 103 



Transit Patrol Research Lofllslics Total 



128.2 292.9 10.9 449.1 



