Dassault HU-25 Guardian

History of the Dassault HU-25 Guardian

The Falcon 20 is a Cold War-era twin-engine business jet (bizjet) that first flew in 1963 and entered service in June 1965. Production spanned from 1965 to 1991, by which time approximately 512 aircraft had been built.

The series found a number of global operators at the time, including the mighty FedEx, government agencies and small private airlines. Despite its inherent advantages, the Falcon 20 has also successfully attracted the interest of many of the world's military powers, and the United States has found this type to be particularly useful for some special missions.

The United States Coast Guard (USCG) has taken over the French business jet "Falcon 20" from Dassault Aviation under the designation HU-25 "Guardian". This aircraft, specifically the Falcon 20G production model, received a batch of 41 airframes under the designation "HU-25A" and was powered by two Garrett AIResearch ATF3-6-2C turbofan engines. Then there's the "HU-25B," a seven-plane prototype modified from the HU-25A airframe, equipped with Side-Looking Airborne Radar (SLAR) for pollution control data collection.

An additional nine Hu-25A airframes were subsequently modified for the "Hu-25C" drug interception mission, as these airframes were equipped with APG-66 series search radars as well as WF-360 forward-looking infrared (FLIR) hull bladders. The improved Hu-25C variant subsequently evolved into the "Hu-25C+", with the same nine airframes receiving more powerful AN/APG-66(V)2 series radar modifications (same as the F-16 Fighting Falcon. lighter multirole fighter) and more modern FLIR arrangements.

The Guardian's last final entry is the Hu-25D, these aircraft are again based on the A-series, but combined with the 360-degree scanning inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) series carried by the AN/APS-143B(V)3, while retaining the FLIR maturity Features of the C model. 15 D models were procured.

The Guardian has a lifespan of around 32 years at USCG, an aircraft known for its versatility, reliability and speed to balance its acquisition and operating costs (and tight operating conditions). The last flight of the Hu-25 series aircraft was on September 23, 2014, when the line was decommissioned.

Duties have since been taken over by HC-144 Ocean Sentinels (EADS/CASA C-235) and Alenia HC-27J Spartans (detailed elsewhere on this site). NASA used an example Hu-25 for testing.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes