In the 1990s, the United States Coast Guard enacted a covert program, dubbed “New Frontier”, to create an advanced helicopter which could keep up with speedboats used by drug cartels for smuggling illicit goods. Towards this purpose, the Coast Guard intended for these new helicopters to be weaponized with machine guns and sniper rifles, have sufficient cabin space, an integrated avionics suite, high speed ability, and have takeoff and landing capabilities on the USCG’s Medium Endurance Cutters (WMEC), commissioned vessels longer than 65 feet with a permanent crew aboard.
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