Dassault-Brequet HU-25D Guardian s/n 2114
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) operated a model of the Falcon 20, designated as the HU-25 Guardian. The Guardian was operated as a high-speed spotter aircraft to locate shipwreck survivors and direct slower-moving aircraft and rescue vessels, and to interdict aerial and shipborne drug trafficking. In 1982, the first HU-25 was delivered to the USCG; by December 1983, a total of 41 aircraft had been acquired. In USCG service, the HU-25 was eventually succeeded in its role by the EADS HC-144 Ocean Sentry, a newer turboprop-powered aircraft.
This photos was taken at St. Louis Downtown Airport when U.S. Coast Guard Dassault-Brequet HU-25D Guardian s/n 2114 from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi arrived to refuel. After 32 years of operation, on 26 September 2014, the last Falcon, an HU-25D, numbered 2114, made its last flight on the date of the ceremony and now the new Airbus HC-144A Ocean Sentry twin-turboprop maritime patrol aircraft is replacing the HU-25 Guardian.
Srecko Bradic
Photo credit- Mark Nankivil
