MH-68A Enforcer / Agusta A109E
The MH-68A Enforcer entered service with the US Coast Guard in September 2000. The MH-68A is a version of the Agusta A109E "Power" commercial aircraft. Two MH-68s were procurred for use with Helicopter Interdiction Squadron Ten (HITRON Ten), with an option for an additional six if the platform met Coast Guard requirements under the Airborne Use of Force (AUF) program. Along with the MH-90, the MH-68s will equip HITRON Ten which is based out of Jacksonville, Florida. The MH-68s will operate from USCG Medium-Endurance cutters in support of the USCG's counter-narcotics mission.
The MH-68A is an all-weather, short-range, interdiction helicopter, equipped with the latest navigation, communication, and avionics equipment. This is the first Agusta product in service with any component of the US government. As with the MH-90 Explorer, the MH-68 will be armed with various lethal and non-lethal weapons, including the M240G machine gun and a 50-caliber sniper rifle with a laser sight. Other weapons such as stun grenades and entanglement nets will be used as needed. The MH-68 is equipped with a Forward-looking InfraRed (FLIR) system for night operations, along with a night-vsion compatible cockpit. It carries an avionics suite similar to that of other Coast Guard helicopters, including HF/VHF/UHF radios capable of clear and encrypted voice transmission and GPS receivers connected to the autopilot.
The U.S. Coast Guard's first patrols in 2002 using tough new tactics employing armed MH-68s, a dedicated version of the twin-engine Agusta A109 Power helicopter, scored a perfect three busts in three attempts against drug-laden speedboats bound for U.S. shores. The U.S. Coast Guard’s three interdictions netted a combined total of more than 13,000 pounds of cocaine along with several arrests.
Present operational doctrine authorises MH-68 crews to disable the engines through pinpoint rifle fire of suspected vessels that fail to halt following several warnings. These include verbal demands to do so transmitted via loudspeaker, and tracer fire across the vessel’s bow.
Owing to an increasingly sophisticated quarry, traditional Coast Guard tactics were successful in seizing only one out of ten suspect vessels. That record of futility prompted the Agency to lease eight MH-68 gunships, now assigned to the USCG’s Helicopter Tactical Squadron (HITRON) based in Jacksonville, Florida. Today, HITRON's crews are deployed onto USCG cutters patrolling the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
The MH-68 is a dedicated version of the Agusta 109 Power helicopter. In 2000, Agusta, an AgustaWestland Company, was awarded a contract by the United States Coast Guard calling for the supply of eight A109 Powers for the USCG’s HITRON TEN program. The contract was won by Agusta following a vigorous competition with other major helicopter manufacturers, and marks the first time Agusta has been selected by a Federal agency of the United States to provide helicopters in support of the agency’s aviation missions. Final aircraft completion and delivery were provided by Agusta Aerospace Corporation, Agusta’s wholly owned U.S. subsidiary in Philadelphia, PA, which is also responsible for HITRON’s support.
