Iceberg Reconnaissance 

 and Communications 



During the 1995 Ice Patrol year, 106 air- 

 craft sorties were flown in support of IIP. Of 

 these, 47 were transit flights to St. John's, 

 Newfoundland, MP's base of operations since 

 1989, and 43 were ice observation flights 

 made to locate the southwestern, southern, 

 and southeastern limits of icebergs. Thirteen 

 logistics flights were required to support and 

 maintain the patrol aircraft. Tables 4 and 5 

 show aircraft use for the 1995 ice year. 



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 1995. 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 third operational year for the 

 FLAR. Analysis of the SLAR/FLAR combina- 

 tion from 1993 and 1994 allowed IIP to in- 

 crease search track spacing from 25 nautical 

 miles (NM) to 30NM, resulting in a 20% in- 

 crease in area covered without increasing 

 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-1 30H 'Hercules' aircraft has been 

 the primary platform for Ice Patrol aerial re- 

 connaissance since 1963, while the HU-25B 

 has been used since 1 988. The extent of the 



Table 4 

 Aircraft Usage During the 1995 Ice Year 



9 



