The Coast Guard Research and Development Center and partners accomplished the service’s first autonomous net capture of an unmanned aerial system on board Coast Guard Cutter Healy July 9. The Coast Guard is evaluating methods to recover UAS that could be employed on platforms that are not equipped with flight decks. AeroVironment photo provided by John Ferguson.

Coast Guard Research & Development Center Conduct Autonomous Recovery of Unmanned Aircraft System

Coast Guard personnel from the Research and Development Center and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration continued their work aboard the icebreaker CGC Healy July 9 with the launch of a Puma unmanned aerial system. UAS are being tested by the Coast Guard for use in a wide range of Arctic missions!


The Coast Guard Cutter Healy breaks through ice in the Arctic circle, July 14, 2015. This image was taken by an Aerostat, a self-contained, compact platform that can deploy multiple sensor payloads and other devices into the air. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

Arctic research underway aboard CGC Healy

Science is officially in full swing aboard the CGC Healy and research operations are now underway. Personnel from the Coast Guard Research and Development Center are aboard the Healy again this summer to test and evaluate technologies for Coast Guard use in the Arctic. This year, the focus of the research is on a significant Coast Guard mission: search and rescue.


Coast Guard Research and Development Center tests Arctic communications modeling aboard Coast Guard Cutter Healy

One of the unique challenges of operating in the Arctic is staying in touch. With enormous distances involved in traveling to high latitudes and the sparse population, communications is a challenge. Traditional radio circuits such as Very High Frequency and Ultra High Frequency require that the communicants be within radio line of sight with each other, which is why transmitters are frequently placed on radio towers, allowing VHF and UHF communications up to tens of miles.


unmanned underwater vehicle

The science of safety

Story and photos by Petty Officer 3rd Class Grant DeVuyst Inside the thick red hull of the Coast Guard Cutter Healy, a multitude of crewmembers, scientists and support staff hustle to and fro, performing their various jobs in preparation for […]


Coring Samples

Coast Guard Cutter Healy: Mission Update Aug. 18, 2013

We check in with the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Healy, a 420-foot Seattle-based polar icebreaker, as they continue their Arctic West Summer 2013 deployment. Republished with permission from Ensign Rebecca Follmer, a member of the ship’s operations department and […]


Ice sample team

Coast Guard Cutter Healy: Mission update Aug. 11, 2013

The Coast Guard Cutter Healy is a 420-foot medium endurance icebreaker based in Seattle, with a crew of about 85 and up to 35 scientists aboard. We now join the Healy’s Arctic Summer West 2013 deployment already in progress. Republished with […]