CBP’s bargain interdiction aircraft
Pretty interesting video of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP’s) Office of Air and Marine (OAM) Multirole Enforcement Aircraft (MEA ). Based on a Beechcraft Super King Air 350ER, some 30 MEAs are envisioned to replace a bunch of legacy 1970s and 80s vintage King Air C12M, King Air C12C, and B-200 aircraft. The MEA has a maximum speed of 270 knots (310 mph), maximum range of 1,620 nautical miles and an endurance of five hours. The crew compliment is two pilots and two sensor operators to perform ISR and interdiction missions over land and sea. CBP operates more than 273 aircraft in a staggering amount of variants all over the country, making it one of the largest ‘air force’ in size worldwide.